


Let the games begin

by MedicateMeDrMcCoy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Anger, Angst, Blood, Blood and Violence, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt, Kidnapping, Minor Violence, My First Smut, Reader Insert, Stressful Situations, Violence, main character injuries, side character injuries, star trek aos - Freeform, taking care of minors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 17:57:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9503390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedicateMeDrMcCoy/pseuds/MedicateMeDrMcCoy
Summary: You, Leonard and Jim all work together on the Enterprise. When shore leave comes around, Joanna comes to visit. Although, shes not the only one who shows up from the past for a visit. Its all up to you to keep it together and stay alive.





	1. Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that has been in my head for a while and had to write it to get it out, so I thought I would share it with you all as well. This is only my second fic coming back from 10 years of no writing, and its my first one to be this long. Hope you all enjoy!

You and Bones laid on the couch, legs stacked on top of one another groaning.

"Oh come on Bones, Y/N" it can't be that bad Jim stated as he looked at the two of you. You lifted your head and glared at Jim.

"Not that bad? You don't have half the crew up in the bridge puking on you and all over everything else, not to mention more than half the staff have it too! It's a miracle that Bones and I aren't sick as well". You counter.

"I chalk it up at all that clean living we do" Bones quipped. "Oh yeah, I'm sure it's all that bourbon” Jim said as he rolled his eyes. “Just sanitizes you from the inside out". 

"Hey, whatever works kid.." Bones trailed off as he laid his head back against the couch.

"Oh give us a break Jim, we're tired" you replied as you copied Bones and laid your head against your end of the couch.

"Hey, as your big brother, it's my duty to give you hell" Jim said matter of fact. "Well in that case, it's my duty as your little sister to tell you to get fucked.... captain" putting emphasis on "captain".

Jim feigned shock. "If I didn't know any better Y/N, but that sounds a lot like insubordination. I should lock you in the brig." Jim stated.

"Yeah right, I wish you would. I might actually be able to catch up on some sleep down there. But I'm pretty sure Bones would murder you if we were another nurse short. Besides, I'm the only one keeping his rage from spilling over to you now as it is". You laughed softly.

"They would never find your body, Jim". Bones said apathetically, never lifting his head from the couch. You and Jim had a good laugh.

"I'm serious, Jim... never" Bones reiterated. Jim looked slightly nervous and quickly changed the subject.

"Well it's a good thing we have shore leave next week then" Jim said. "Oh yeah" you exclaimed "I almost forgot". You smacked Bones' leg with the back of your hand. "Is Joanna still coming to visit you" you ask unsure.

"As far as I know. I haven't heard any different". Bones said quietly, but you didn't mistake the hint of anxiety in his tone.

"It'll be good to see her, it's been way too long" Jim stated before you could question Bones further.

"Yeah, its hard to believe she's already 10 this year" you reply.

"10" Bones groaned loudly "double digits! Next she'll be married"!

"Oh it's not that bad Bones, lighten up" Jim laughed.

"I can't wait to see her, 3 years is a really long time. I hope she hasn't forgotten about us" you said.

"Tell me about it Y/N" Bones started, shaking his head lightly "and believe me, she hasn't. She asks about you quite often Y/N"

"Hey! What about me" Jim whines.

"Usually she just asks if you've grown up yet and gotten over your fear of hypos" Bones snorts.

"Come on now, it's a legit phobia" Jim protested trying to act insulted.

"Sure, whatever Jim. They aren't that bad" you object "as Bones so eloquently puts it, don't be such an infant".

You and Bones bust up laughing while Jim sulks towards the kitchen and fills three tumblers full of amber liquid and brings them back over to the couch. Jim passes out the tumblers and you all hold up your glasses "to family and to the Enterprise" you all say as you clink your glasses together.

\-----------------------------------------

The rest of the week passed by quickly and uneventful. The crew were finally getting better and beginning to vacate your medbay, much to your and Bones delight. You couldn't be happier to go back to treating the simple things like burns and sprains.

"Thank god" you breath out as you flop on the chair inside of Bones office. "I couldn't handle the rest if this week being like the last. I was about ready to put myself into an induced coma".

"Oh, like hell you would, kid. I'd bring your ass back and make you work triples" Bones promised. You raise your hands to your chest in mock horror.

"You wouldn't dare" you grinned slightly.

"Try me, darlin'" Bones said through slitted eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, pursing his lips. You laugh and hoist yourself up from the chair.

"Oh, wipe that look off your face, Bones. I've become immune to it over the years. You're going to have to try harder" you tease as you lightly slap his back. "Come on, lets go. Jim is waiting at the cantina and I'm starving". Bones rolls his eyes, but you don't miss the smile playing on his lips. He follows you silently out of his office.

\-----------------------

You woke the following morning fairly late, not having any duties to attend today. You drag yourself out of bed, yawning and rubbing your face with your hands. You make your way to the bathroom to take a shower. Thanking Jim in your head for allowing you to have real showers once in awhile, instead of those awful sonic ones. Finishing quickly so you don't use up all your water allotment, you step out of the shower and dry off, using the towel to muss your hair. You get dressed in your civilian clothes and proceed to finish drying your hair. You exit the shower and wander over to your closet to grab your shoes. You sit down on the edge of your bed and slip them on. You lift off from the bed and make your way out your front door in a hurry. You were so eager to get off this damned ship and onto some solid ground.

You headed to the bridge to look for Jim. Walking through the doors, you wave and greet everyone in the room when you find Jim in his chair.

"What time are we docking Jim" you ask as you strolled up behind him.

"We should be there and docked by 1100" Jim replied as he was going over some last minute paperwork that needed to be approved.

"Oh good, right around lunch... with real food" you said wistfully. Jim just smiled and laughed at the dreamy look on your face.

"Anyway, I need to go down to medical and make sure everything is squared away before we leave. I'll catch you later" you tell him as you kissed the top of his head. Jim doesn't look up from his paperwork but replies "love you Y/N" quietly. "love you too, Jim" you return.

You left the bridge, waving your goodbyes, and made your way down to medical. You make your way for Bones' office to see if he has any last assignments that need to be finished. You're fixing to walk through the door as soon as it swished open, only to be met with Bones' chest.

"Oooomph" you complain "Jesus, Bones in a hurry"?

"Sorry Y/N, guess I wasn't paying attention" Bones replied sheepishly. Immediately noticing his apology and lack of his usual witty banter, you bite.

"Whats up with you Bones" you ask, hoping he won't blow you off as usual. He lets out a long sigh and places his hand on the back of his neck and starts squeezing gently. You grab his other hand and gently guide him back into his office and let the doors slide quietly behind you.

"I guess I'm just worried about seeing Joanna. It's been 3 years Y/N" Bones started, staring at the ceiling. "What if she resents me now" Bones said the last part ever so softly as he looks down at you, the pain evident in his eyes from the thought.

"Oh, Bones" you breathe out "you know she doesn't. She loves you very much. She absolutely adores you and knows that you're doing the best that you can. You can't help that Jocelyn is a bitch most of the time" you said matter of fact.

Bones let out a breath of air. "I know Y/N, I just really don't want to mess this up and want to make the most of my time with her while I can. I want to make all of this mess up to her. I just don't even know where to start"

"You won't Bones, it'll be fine! Jo is going to be so happy to see you, just you wait. As far as making it up to her, don't worry about that. Just enjoy her and cherish the time you do have" you said giving Bones a small hug "now come on and quit sulking and lets go get your daughter" You glance up at Bones in time to see the last fading bits of a smile pass over his lips.

You and Bones head out of his office to the transporter room to meet up with Jim. You practically dance over to your portion of the pad. Before you knew it the all too familiar warmness of the beam was enveloping you in its light.

As the three of you materialized, you loudly exclaim "Sun! Fresh air! Oh my god, grass! I could cry"! you wipe a pretend tear from the corner of your eye.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic Y/N. Space isn't that bad" Jim snorts.

"Sorry brother, but not all of us have the same feelings about the cold, vast, emptiness of space as you do" you retort.

"I gotta agree with Y/N on this one Jim" Bones agreed.

"You two always conspire against me, so I'm not surprised Bones" Jim stated. You stuck your tongue out at your brother. Jim just rolls his eyes "juvenile". You hear a faint snort coming from Bones direction.

"Come on you two idiots, Jo will be here soon" you tell them as you wrap both your arms in one of theirs and dragged them along.

\----------------

"Stop looking so worried Bones. It'll be fine, you'll see" you say trying to get him to cheer up. Bones doesn't reply and just keeps staring in the direction that the new arrivals are streaming out of.

A few quiet moments pass before you hear Jim say "there they are, guys".

You watch as you see Jo walking beside her mother and immediately notice that she wasn't so little anymore. Your heart pained slightly. Three years really was a lot longer than you had initially thought. In that moment, you agreed with what Bones was saying that night when you three were together. She was not allowed to grow up.

Bones stood stiff as a board beside you, you were almost wondering if he was fixing to go into shock. He looked pale and had a slight sheen of sweat on his face. "Get a move on, Bones" you order as you elbow him softly in the ribs. Bones gulps quietly while wiping his face and makes his way toward them. You and Jim hang back giving them some space. You watch as Bones yells for Jo, you could see her eyes light up from where you stood. You hear her squeal "DADDY" and runs towards Bones, leaping into his outstretched arms.

"Hey there pumpkin" you hear him reply, as his gives her a soft kiss on the cheek "I missed you so much, Jo" Bones said hoarsely as he squeezes her tightly.

"I missed you too, daddy" Jo replied as she buries her head in Bones shoulder.

You watch their interaction for a few more moments before your attention wandered over to Jocelyn. She was standing a few steps behind Bones and Jo, looking particularly stony. You nudged Jim slightly "this isn't going to be good" you murmur. Jim just nods his head in agreement, knowing that look as well as you did. Bones seems to have sensed it as well because he looked down at Jo and said something while nodding his head in your direction. Jo, who hadn't even noticed you and Jim yet, follows Bones head nod. You see her eyes light up yet again. "Aunt Y/N! Uncle Jim!" she exclaims while racing over to you and attaches herself to your hip.

"Hey Jo" you laughed as you ruffled her hair, thoroughly enjoying her enthusiastic greeting. "How have you been? It's been way too long".

"I've been good" Jo replied as she peeled herself away from you to give Jim an equally enthusiastic hug.

"What have you been up to JoJo? No good I hope" Jim asked. "Of course, uncle Jim. You taught me everything you know, remember" Jo replied giggling, and it was like music to your ears and you couldn't help but smile. "Atta girl, JoJo" Jim squeezed her tightly, heart swelling with pride.

Jim and Jo continued to talk and you listened to their playful banter for a while just soaking it all in. It was like Jo and Jim hadn't been separated for the past three years as their conversation flowed effortlessly. You took your eyes off the two of them for a moment and glanced over in Bones' direction and noticed his stiff posture, arms crossed over his chest. Jim and Jos conversation began to fade to the background as you strained to hear the exchange between Bones and Jocelyn.

"I mean it Leonard. I'm trusting you with her" Jocelyn said with a bite to her tone.

"I know Joce, I'm not an idiot" Bones replied frigidly.

"The jury is still out on that one Leonard" Jocelyn snapped

"Goodbye Joce" Bones said curtly as he quickly turned his back to her and began walking back towards where you all stood.

"You ok" you mouthed at Bones so Jim and Jo wouldn't hear, since they were oblivious to the exchange that just happened between Bones and Joce. Bones just nods his head once in response, lips still in a tight line. You give him a sympathetic look and give his shoulder a small reassuring squeeze.

"Come on daddy! Lets go eat, I'm starving" Jo said as she grabbed your hand in one of hers and one of Bones in the other. "Jo, you're a woman after my own heart" you tell her approvingly. Jo just giggled in reply. "Come on uncle Jim. Sorry I don't have another hand" Jo said said as she began to drag you and Bones down the street. Jim laughed "thats ok Jo" as he started to jog to catch up with Jos pace.

\----------------

You made your way down the street passing all kinds of restaurants and stores until finally agreeing on one to eat at. You make your way inside and sit down at a table. The waitress brings everyone some menus and glasses of water.

"So hows school been Jo" Bones asked after everyone got comfortable.

"Its good, but its boring" Jo replied while browsing the menu. "I think they want to put me in AP classes. Something about me not being "challenged" enough" she sat down her menu to add air quotes.

"Thats awesome Jo! I always said you were too smart for your own good" you joke.

"You got that right" Jim agreed.

"Well im going to have to be if I want to be a doctor like my daddy" Jo added nonchalantly, never looking up from her menu, oblivious to the impact of her words. Everyone at the table falls into silence. You quickly look towards Bones and immediately gather by his shocked expression, that Jo had never given him any indication that she wants to follow in his footsteps.

"You really want to be a doctor, Jo?" Jim was first to break the silence.

"Yeah" said Jo, finally looking up from her menu "I want to be able to save people's lives and make them feel better just like daddy and aunt Y/N" you hear Bones swallow loudly at her statement and could almost see a faint glisten in his eyes.

"Thats great Jo, I'm so proud of you. You'd be a fantastic doctor, probably smarter than your daddy" you say quickly, trying to make light of the situation while trying not to focus on the tears threatening to spill from your own eyes. Jo beams up at you and you give her an equally big smile in return.

You glance back over to Bones who still looks like a deer in headlights, your jab at his intelligence completely unheard. You were about to get his attention when Jim cut in first.

"So what are you getting to eat, Bones" Jim asked, snapping Bones out of his thoughts.

"And no, bourbon is not considered a main course" you rib at him.

"Haha, very funny" Bones finally speaks while leaning down to give Joanna a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm so very proud of you"

"Thanks daddy. I'll make you proud" Jo replied, wrapping her arms around Bones, squeezing him tightly.

"I know you will pumpkin. Whatever you choose to do, I'll always be proud of you" Bones said thickly

Now you know for a fact that you saw tears in Bones' eyes. You look over and offer him a small smile when he looks over at you, and he returns it with one of his own.

\---------------

Everyone was about done with lunch when Jim's comm went off.

"Kirk here.... Admiral Pike" Jim said, straightening in his seat slightly. "Yes sir.... understood sir, well be right there" as he closes the comm and sighs while putting his face in his hands.

"What did Pike want" you ask genuinely curious. It wasn't like Pike to call for a polite chat.

"He needs Bones and me to come down to his office and debrief him on the little tribble incident". Bones just groans in reply. You, on the other hand, bust out laughing.

"Oh man, that's hilarious. I do not envy the two of you right now. Oh man, there were so many tribbles..." you trail off reminiscing "So if Pike murders the both of you, does that mean I get to be CMO" you question while wiggling your eyebrows at Bones.

"You will have to pry my medbay out of my cold dead hands" Bones stated.

It was quiet for a few moments before Jo asks innocently "what's a tribble"? All three of you begin to laugh.

"I'll show you one later when we get back to the ship" you tell her. "You promise"? Jo asked excitedly. "I promise" you reply.

Bones lets out a sigh from across the table. "Y/N do you mind..." he trailed off, inclining his head towards Jo. "Not at all" you state.

"Hey Jo, what do you say to hanging out with aunt Y/N for a couple hours while Jim and I go and talk to Admiral Pike" Bones asked, looking down at Jo.

"YAY" Jo exclaims as everyone laughed. "I think that's a yes" Jim smiled.

"I think I saw an ice cream truck down the street across from the academy park. What do you say Jo"? You ask looking down at Jo.

"What are we waiting for"? Jo asks excitedly as she hops up from the table giving Jim and Bones a quick hug "love you daddy, love you uncle Jim" and turns practically running outside.

"Wait up Jo" you call after her, shaking your head at her excitement.

"Going to have your work cut out for you today Y/N" Jim jokes.

"Very funny, Jim. But I would take a fleet of active 10 year olds over giving the briefing you're going to have to give, but nice try" you said smugly as you lean down to give him a kiss on the top of his head.

"Thanks for watching her, Y/N" Bones says. "No need to thank me Bones. I love that little scamp, even if she's a mess" waving him off with your hand. You give Bones a side hug, which he returns. "Catch you guys later, love you guys, good luck" and with that you turn to maneuver yourself outside.

"Love you too Y/N, thanks” Jim and Bones call after you. Come on Bones" Jim sighs "let's get this over with"

"God help me... let's go" Bones grumbles

\------------------------

"Jo! Slow down" you half yell, half laugh.

"But ice cream aunt Y/N" Jo replied, practically pulling you along behind her.

"A girl after my own heart, I'm telling you" you reiterate. Jo just giggles her approval. "You act like you don't ever get any ice cream Jo" you observe.

"It's been a while..." Jo trails off. "Oh"? you prod gently hoping to get her to open up.

"Yeah" replies Jo as she slows down significantly still clinging to your wrist "Ever since momma got a new boyfriend, we haven't done a whole lot together like we used to" Jo says suddenly finding the ground super interesting. You swallow a lump that's threatening to form in your throat.

"Aw Jo, that's terrible, but your mom does still loves you, you know. Your daddy too, he loves you so much, Jo. Don't you ever forget that. Grown ups can be really dumb sometimes.."

"Even you, aunt Y/N"? Jo interrupts

"Nah kid, everyone 'cept me" you reply, earning a faint smile from Jo. You continue with your advice "It's not your fault or anything you did, ok Jo? You are an amazing little girl who is beginning to grow up into an amazing woman"

"Ok..." Jo said quietly as she kicked a rock down the sidewalk. "I wish I could live with my daddy" Jo adds so quietly that you almost didn't hear as she continued to stare at the pavement, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve. 

"Oh, Jo..." you breathe out, unsure of how to even begin to tackle that statement. Luckily for you, you're saved by finally arriving at the ice cream truck. Jo seemed to perk up significantly as she peruses the ice cream flavors.

"You have excellent taste, Jo" you say in approval as you watch Jo eat her mint chocolate chip ice cream. Jo takes a long lick of ice cream in reply, her earlier mood completely forgotten in a cloud of mint and chocolate chips.

Both of you walk over to the nearly deserted park next to the academy to wait for Jim and Bones to get done with their briefing.

"Come on aunt Y/N" let's go sit on the swings" Jo said excitedly. You only grin as Jo once again takes you by the wrist and tugs you along. You both plop down on the swings and slowly finish up your ice cream, enjoying the sun of the late afternoon.

"Oh look aunt Y/N, a soccer ball" Jo said as she hopped up from the swing and ran toward it. "Come play with me" Jo demanded. You feel a grin tugging up at the corners of your mouth. "Get ready to lose, kid" you reply as you get up and do a little stretching.

Jo laughs loudly "you have to catch me first"

"Challenge accepted, Jo" you yell as you take off jogging towards Jo and the goal post.

\----------------

You two must have been running around for over an hour by now. Wondering what in the world Jim, Bones and Admiral Pike could possibly still be discussing. You decide not to think on it too much, sincerely grateful you weren't dragged into that mess.

"Tired yet aunt Y/N? Ready to give up" Jo teased

"Not on your life Jo" you reply as you went to kick the ball back to her. You catch the ball just right, and are a little too overzealous with your punt. You send the ball sailing over Jos head and towards the edge of the trees lining the park.

"Aw, dang, I'm sorry Jo" you said as you watch it fly.

"It's ok Y/N, I got it" Jo replied as she's already taking off to go retrieve it. You stand there and watch her as you catch your breath for a moment. 

As Jo gets closer to the ball, you notice movement in the trees. Three figures start to form, all watching Jo carefully. There's just something about their movements, something about their aura that instantly makes you uneasy.

"JO" you cry out, slightly frightened

"Don't worry aunt Y/N, I got it" Jo replied.

Before Jo could grab the ball, one of the men put his foot on top of it.

"Jo, come back" you yell, panic laced in your voice as you start to sprint towards Jo.

"Excuse me mister. Can I have my ball back please" Jo asks while looking up at them, completely ignoring your plea. The only reply Jo receives is the middle man inclining his head down to her. You finally make it over to Jo and you immediately put yourself in between her and whoever these men are.

"Terribly sorry to have bothered you" you say as you move your arm around Jo protectively, pushing her further behind your back. You hope that this is all just a misunderstanding and can talk your way out of this. Deep down, your gut is telling you otherwise. Alarm bells are starting to sound the more you squint at them, trying to get a better look at them in the fast disappearing light. You swear they look familiar from what you can manage to see. Jo is completely frozen behind you, taking in your stiff body language.

"Kirk" the man in the middle says simply.

"What?... Who.." you trail off, taken completely off guard at his abrupt simplicity.

"Y/N Kirk" he expanded "We've been searching a long time for you" as he stepped out further from the trees. Your eyes widen and the alarms in your head are blaring full blast now.

"Romulan" you think to yourself. Your mouth instantly turns into a desert and you feel your pulse begin to race once more.

Trying not to completely freak out, you say as calmly as you can "time to go Jo" but before you could turn around to usher her away, the other two Romulans surround you on either side and you feel a cold prick against your neck and the last thing you hear is Jo scream and muffled shouts in the distance as the world around you fades to black.

\--------

Jim and Bones had exited the academy and started heading down the steps. Jim sweeps the campus and park looking for you and Jo.

"I'm never getting wrapped up in your stupid ideas ever again Jim" Bones grumps sourly.

"Stop acting like you don't love my ideas Bones, they're awesome" Jim laughs. Bones just glared at the back of Jim's head for a few moments before something catches his eye. He makes out something fuzzy just past Jim's ear. He focuses on the dots in the distance and freezes where he stood. Jim noticing that his footsteps are the only ones he can hear, stops and turns around to stare at Bones, trying to figure out why he stopped all of a sudden.

"Bones, what.." He trailed off, noticing Bones' hawk like gaze and slowly turned to follow it. Before Jim could completely process what he was seeing, a figure stepped out from behind the trees. Jims eyes went wide as he realized that it was you standing there, and those guys were not cadets.

"What the hell.."? Jim breathed frozen in place. Before he could finish his sentence, Bones sprinted full speed from behind him. That seemed to jar Jim loose as he turned and sprinted after him. Jim watched as the Romulans began to circle you and Jo. "Y/N! NO!" Jim screams as he watches you crumble in a heap at their feet.

Jim can barely hear Bones yelling "JO! Y/N! SHIT" the blood in his ears is pulsing too loud. You both hear Jo scream and Bones once again yells "JO". They both race through the grass, their feet pounding as they go. They were a little over halfway there now, when the second Romulan grabs you and tosses you over his shoulder while the other grabs Jo and puts his hand over her mouth to silence her screams. They all began to shimmer faintly.

"We’re not going to make it" Jim thought helplessly, pushing himself as hard as he could, almost catching up with Bones.

Bones made it there first, just as the last shimmers disappear from the tree line. Bones falls to his knees skidding over the place you and Jo had been just seconds before.

"JO" Bones cries grabbing the sides of his head in desperation.

"Y/N" Jim screams in horror at the same time as Bones. Both of them staring at the spot where you and Jo had been. Jim couldn't bring himself to breathe, his body screaming that it needed oxygen but he just couldn't get his diaphragm to cooperate and expand to let in the air. He starts to get dizzy and places a hand on Bones shoulder for support. Bones makes no movement, makes no acknowledgement that Jim is even there. He just continues to stare, breathing heavily, fear etched in every feature of his face.

Jim finally gets his lungs to work and takes a few jagged gulps of air. He looks down at his best friend, his brother, seeing the complete devastation written all over him and he gets angry. If he doesn't get angry, he would break down into an inconsolable mess.

He walks over to a tree and punches it, pain flares through his hand. Anger and pain. Anger and pain to keep him focused. He had to be strong, strong enough for both of them if they were going to find you and Jo as soon as possible and in one piece. No one messes with his family and gets away with it. Those Romulans will pay, and they will pay dearly or his name wasn't James Tiberius Kirk.


	2. Waterfall

You started to come back to yourself. You feel the coolness underneath you, seeping in through your clothes and pressed against your face. You concentrate on it as it helps to clear your head. The process is painfully slow, as you keep your eyes closed tight as you try to force your drug addled brain to cooperate. You try to remember just what the hell happened before you lost consciousness.

You hear a quiet whimper next to your ear and are faintly aware of the slight pressure against your side. “Jo” you were starting to remember. That was all it took to snap your brain into gear and your eyes snapped open. Thankfully it was dark in the room, you don’t think you could handle any light at the moment.

“JoJo” you croak out, trying to move to sit up but your body isn’t cooperating just yet, despite your protests.

“Aunt Y/N” Jo looked down at your face “you’re ok. I couldn’t wake you and I was so worried, and scared, and I thought, I thought you…” she trailed off as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Oh Jo, hey now, its ok, Im alright. Are you ok” you ask as you force yourself into a seated position. Perhaps a little too quickly as your head swam from the sudden movement.

“Im ok” Jo replies, continuing to cry.

“Are you certain Jo? You ask as you shake your head gently to get rid of the final bits of fogginess. Jo just gulped in a breath of air and nodded in response. You wrap your arms around her tight.

“Hey now Jo, come on, don’t cry. We’re going to be ok. I promise. I got you” you try to reassure her the best you could. Trying to reassure yourself for that matter. You had no idea where you were, why you were taken. You almost felt like crying yourself, but there was no way you were going to break down in front of Jo. Not when she needed you.

“I want my daddy” Jo choked out between sobs.

“I know you do sweetheart. I’ll get you back to him Jo. I promise” you resolve, also wishing you were back with Jim and Bones.

“I love you, Y/N” Jo says, finally calming down a little. “I love you too Jo, get some sleep. I’m going to watch out for you, I promise” you said, forcing down a lump in your throat.

Jo just nods her head in reply and curls up against your side as close as she can manage. You wrap your arms around her to keep her warm and to try and give her some sense of security. You run your fingers through her hair to hopefully help soothe her and calm her down more. Jo gives one last little sniffle before she falls into an exhausted sleep.  
Its only now that you take your eyes off of Jo and have a look at your surroundings. A small cell made of nothing but concrete. No bars, no windows, no nothing. Just solid, cold concrete with a door at the front of the cell with a small window at the top, but it was closed. 

You sighed as you laid your head back on the wall, trying not to think about how hungry and thirsty you were. You glanced back down at Jo and lightly moved her hair out of her face. It was going to be a long night.

You must have fallen asleep sometime in the early hours of the morning and fallen asleep hard. You didn’t even hear the door to your cell open. You were only awoken when you felt hands tightening around your neck and lifting you to your feet. The sudden movement makes Jo topple off your lap, waking her in the process.

Jo begins to scream as she watches the Romulan continue to lift you up by your neck, the tips of your toes barely scraping the floor. You claw at his hands, barely able to get any oxygen. You start to see stars and your vision starts to get fuzzy before he suddenly drops you to the ground. You fall to your knees as you take in jagged breaths. Jo goes to make her way over to you.

“Stay back Jo” you order hoarsely, barely able to even speak. Jo chokes back her sobs as she presses herself into the corner of the cell.

You slowly get to your feet and stare at the man in front of you. The same face of the man who drugged you. You pause for a moment, then proceed to punch the man squarely in his nose. He stumbles back a step, looking shocked for a brief second, then begins to laugh.

“Glad you think this is funny, asshole” you say, putting as much venom in your words as you can muster.

“You’ve got fight. You will need it. Ajek will be pleased” the man states as a wicked grin, splattered with blood from his nose, spreads across his face.

“Who..” is all you manage to get out before a second Romulan, one you haven’t seen before, enters through the door and proceeds to punch you straight in the gut, knocking the wind out of you. You double over, trying to catch your breath.

“Leave Y/N alone” you hear Jo cry out, suddenly finding her voice. You wished that she had just stayed quiet. Quiet and forgotten in the corner.

Both Romulans snap their heads up at her. The one with the bloody face jabs his head in her direction. The other Romulan walks towards Jo.

“NO” you said suddenly and went to get to your feet. Before you could make it up, the Romulan with the bloody face had you pinned against the wall. He was incredibly strong. You couldn’t break his hold on you but that didn’t stop you from giving it all you had.

The second Romulan grabbed Jo by her middle and threw her over his shoulder. Jo was completely freaking out, kicking and screaming.

“NO! LET. ME. GO! HELP! Y/N” Jo screamed, as she reached out her arms towards you, terror in her tiny hazel eyes. Your heart completely broke as the Romulan carried her out of the cell and down the hall, Jos screams fading in the distance..

“JO! Let her go, asshole! She has nothing to do with this! Leave her alone and take me” you pleaded as you struggled even harder. That is, until you felt a heavy blow across your temple. Stars danced in your vision as it started to blur. You forced yourself to stay conscious. You had to.

“Shut up. She has her part to play, just like you. We have every intention of taking you, Federation scum” the Romulan sneered. 

Your brain was too addled to even begin to decipher the implication of his words. He got behind you and yanked you to your feet. You barely held to your consciousness as your head lulled from the sudden lightness from the change of elevation.

The man grabbed both of your hands and tied them behind your back. You didn’t even struggle. What was the point? Once he was finished, he pushed you roughly out of the cell. You barely kept your footing as you glared in his direction.

“Walk” he ordered as he shoved you again. You made no move to follow his orders.

“Where did they take Jo” you said, your voice icy.

“Oh, you’ll be reunited with her soon, maybe” he replied, giving you a wicked smirk. “Now move, unless you want another fist against that pretty head of yours”. You glare at him like you’ve never glared before, but you decide that you can’t take another blow like the previous one and expect to stay conscious. You hoped you didn’t already have a concussion from the first blow, you doubted it though, as your stomach began to roll. You turn from the man curtly and begin to walk down the hall.

The Romulan guides you to an empty room and shoves you inside, pushing you against a vertical table in the middle of the room. He holds you firmly against it while grabbing straps and begins to strap down your arms and legs.

“Ajek will be with you shortly” the Romulan grinned menacingly. You give no reply but your glare.

A second Romulan enters and walks over to you, giving no introduction and begins to give you an… exam? He poked and prodded you. You were completely repulsed at the sudden intrusion of your body and nervous at his touch, flinching every time he went to touch you in a different place. You tried to struggle and move away to no avail, the straps kept you firmly in place. 

He walks over and grabs a cuff and places it around your arm, assuming he was checking your vitals. “This is weird” you thought “One almost cracks my skull open, and this one is checking my vitals” but you keep all comments to yourself.

After a few moments, a third Romulan enters the room. The bloodied Romulan exclaims.

“Ajek” and stands at attention

“Thank you, Kujeth. That will be all” Ajek said, dismissing Kujeth.

“What did you find, Sejeex” Ajek asked, not even acknowledging you.

“Nothing, sir. The specimen appears healthy” Sajeex answered.

“Good” Ajex nods “have to make sure our specimens are healthy beforehand. Thank you Sajeex, you may go” 

“Yes, sir” Sajeex replied, making his exit.

“Wheres Jo” is all you ask, all you care about at this point.

“She’s perfectly fine, for now. Don’t you worry your pretty little face” Ajek replied. He walked up to you and took your face in his hand, squeezing your cheeks roughly. You tried to flinch away but his grip was like a vice. You could do nothing but stare coldly at this face.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you Y/N Kirk” he said, inspecting your features “it’s been a long time coming” he said, looking into your eyes and seeing the confusion in there.

“You have no idea who I am, do you” he questioned, growing angry and releasing your face.

“Should I” you snap back.

“Maybe the name Nero will ring a bell” Ajek said angrily.

That got your attention. “Nero…” you said as your breath caught in your lungs “no… he’s dead”

“Oh, indeed so” Ajek replied “I should know, II am his son”. It took you a minute to process the information and force your mouth to form words. You felt dizzy.

“I thought his son died” you asked quietly.

“Is that what he told you” Ajek smiled “interesting. I am alive and well, ruling over what Romulans are left, on a new planet that isn’t on any of your precious star charts. So if you think you’ll be rescued, think again” Ajek sneered.

He yelled out into the hall as Kujeth comes back into the room, unbuckling you from the table. You can’t help but ask “what are you going to do with me”

“I’m going to take away everything you hold dear and then take away everything your brother holds dear. Just like you’ve done with me” Ajek screams. He then gets dangerously close to you and grabs your face again.

“Let the games begin” he whispers “take her to the preparation room”.

Ajek pulls you away from the table and pushes you out of the room. Your mind is reeling “Nero’s son? What game was he talking about? Did he think Jo was your daughter? Where is Jo, is she ok”?

Your heart aches at the last thought. You had promised that you would protect her and now you have no idea where she is or if she’s alright. She has to be terrified and you can’t do anything about it. You can’t help but get choked up.

Kujeth pulls you to a halt outside of a different room. He takes your cuffs off and shoves you roughly inside. You look around the room after you steady yourself. You notice a table full of primitive weapons and a tube of some kind, leading up through the ceiling.

Kujeth was standing between you and the weapons. “Smart man” you thought bitterly “shame”

“Pick one” Kujeth ordered.

“What” you asked, caught off guard. He was giving you a weapon?

“Pick on NOW” Kujeth ordered yet again

You look at the table and at all the different weapons, giving them a once over. Spear, club, axe, sword and shield, then you lay your eyes on it, your weapon of choice.

“Bow and arrow” you reply easily.

“Very well” Kujeth answered and picked up the bow and arrows and toss them into the tube. You watch them tumble through the air and land in the tube.

As you return your gaze to Kujeth, you realize he has another hypo in his hands. “Shit not again” you mutter as you try to figure out a plan, but failing miserably. You try to make a break for the rest of the weapons, but you don’t make it very far. Kujeth is a lot stronger than you and pulls you in and stabs the hypo in your neck.

“Best of luck” was the last you heard before your world is enveloped in black once more.

\------

You slowly start to come to. You can hear birds chirping. “That's odd” you think to yourself as you force open your eyes and take in your surroundings. You raise your head and see nothing but forest and trees. You continue to look around, you feel your pulse begin to race and your breathing shallow. You begin to panic.

“No, no, please. Not again, not here. Pull yourself together Y/N. You’re not… This isn’t the same as…” you trail off. No, it wasn’t the same. This was going to be worse. You would have gone into complete panic attack if it wasn’t for a sudden voice seemingly coming from everywhere.

“Ah, welcome welcome. Now that you’re all awake, we can get started with the instructions. They’re simple enough. There is one among you, a small child. Kill her...”

“NO! JO” you shouted as you went to get up to start running, only to get pulled back by a chain on your ankle that you didn’t notice before. “JO” you scream helplessly. “Jo…” you breathe, closing your eyes.

“Kill her” the voice continues “and you win, and you will be able to go free, back home to your families. You have my word, good luck. Let the games begin” the voice cut off.

“Shit” you mutter to yourself “This is not going to be easy or pleasant”. After that thought, the chain around your ankle popped open, freeing you from its hold. You looked down at your feet, when you notice the bow and arrow next to you. You hastily sling it over your shoulder as you take off at a jog. You have to find Jo, and find her first.

You had been alternating jogging and walking around the forest for what felt like hours. You wondered where the hell you actually were. Wherever it was, was hot and muggy. You detested hot and muggy.

You hadn’t seen much so far, which was good and bad. Good in that you hadn’t run into any one else so far, but bad because you hadn’t seen anything that resembled food, or seen any fresh water to drink. “That’s going to be a problem” you think grimly. 

You push all that aside and force yourself to think about nothing but finding Jo, and staying alive. Jo was out there somewhere terrified and alone. The thought give you a new surge of energy as you carefully yet quickly make your way through the thick foliage.

You’d be walking for maybe another hour you’d guess. It's hard to tell in the jungle without being able to even see through the thick trees. You had noticed that it was beginning slightly darker. Panic slowly enters your thoughts. You have to find Jo before it gets dark. You couldn’t let her spend the night alone and scared, you couldn’t. 

That's when you heard it, a voice in the distance, and, could it be, the yells of a tiny voice. Jo? You quietly get closer so you can see what's going on, so you aren’t blindly flying into an unknown situation. That wouldn’t help you or Jo survive this new fresh hell.

“Get back here you little bitch” you hear a man yell.

“Get away from me” you hear the reply. It was Jo! Your heart leapt in your chest but you forced yourself to remain calm and hid behind a bush to access the situation.

“I’m going to gut you like a fish” the man swore.

“Like HELL you are” Jo screamed. Boy, Jim really did teach her everything he knew you thought. You looked around quickly and figured out that the man was indeed alone, your luck holding out.

“Let me go” Jo yells trying to tug away from the man who finally managed to grab her. The man grins as he lifts up his spear.

“This was way too easy” he says while Jo screams in terror.

The man never gets a chance to bring down his spear as you run at full speed at him. You wrap your arms around him and went to tackle him to the ground. You caught the man off guard, he didn’t even hear you coming, too wrapped up with Jo. 

He has no time to prepare himself for your full body tackle. You knock the man down with such force, that his head snaps back and makes a sickening crack against a rock. You quickly get up and steady yourself. You stare down at the man, making sure he stays down.

“Aunt Y/N! I’m so happy to see you” Jo exclaims, relieved.

“I’m happy to see you too Jo” you say hollowly “bring me his spear, Jo”. You flipped your switch as you stared down at the man. The switch that turned you off to yourself and your emotions so you would be able to live with yourself after what you were about to do.

Jo hesitates for a moment, confused by your lack of emotion and your stiff posture.

“Jo, his spear, now” you order as the man starts to groan. Jo did as you asked and brought you the spear handing it to you apprehensively, almost afraid.

You felt awful for the way you were acting, but you had no choice. You had to keep yourself and Jo safe, before anything else. Then you could calm down, then you could reassure her, but not before.

“Turn around Jo” you order. Jo obeys at once.

You lift the spear just as the man’s eyes begin to flutter open. You don’t hesitate. You bring the spear down as hard as you can, knowing the force required to break the human chest plate. The spear hit home as you plunge it straight to his heart.

The man brings in a sharp intake of breath and begins to gurgle as blood starts to pour out of his mouth. He chokes and gags on the blood for a few more seconds before you tighten your grip on the hilt and twist it with all the strength you can muster. You look down at the man as he coughs up one last mouthful of blood before his eyes go glassy and can see no more.

You pull the spear out of his chest with a heave. You continue to stare at the man for a few seconds.

“Y/N…” Jo says quietly, bringing you back to yourself “can I turn around now”

“No Jo, don’t turn around” you say as you slowly make your way to stand in front of her instead.

“Y/N” Jo chokes out and attaches herself to you. Your switch flips back as Jo sobs into your shirt. God, you must have scared her. Your knees feel weak, and you start to shake slightly from the adrenaline finally hitting you from the recent events.

“Oh, Jo. I’m so sorry. Are you ok” you ask as you pull her away from you and go into doctor mode, checking her all over.

“I’m ok, Y/N” Jo replies “Just a few bumps and scratches”

“Let me see them Jo” you order. Jo holds out her arm to you “there” she says as she points to her scratches.

“Good, Jo. They all look superficial, they shouldn’t get infected” you drop her arm in relief. God knows that neither of you needed an infection out here. What you wouldn’t give for Bones to bust out from behind a tree with his overflowing medkit in hand.

“That means they’re just on the surface, right” Jo asks, looking up at you.

“That’s right, Jo. Where’d you learn that” you ask, surprised.

“I’ve been reading a lot, momma spends a lot of time with her new boyfriend, so it gives me a lot of time to read. I’m going to have to, if I want to be a good doctor like you and daddy” Jo replied, like it should be obvious.

“Aww, thank you Jo” you reply touched, and you pull her in for a hug “you’re going to be a better doctor than your dad and me put together. 

“Bones” you thought. You wished more than anything to hear his voice right now, or Jim making fun of you.

Jo must have been feeling the same because she was looking down at her feet now. You were about to say something to comfort her when you heard a twig snap in a cluster of trees in front of you.

You instinctively grab the spear and pull Jo closer to you. You hear a low growl emanate from the bushes.You flick your eyes to the body laying on the ground. The blood. How could you be so stupid? 

You should have left immediately. You should have never lingered at the scene. You should have gotten Jo to a safe place and then examined her. You curse yourself for being so stupid, and vow not to let it happen again. There was nothing for it now though.

“Y/N” Jo asks in a whisper, terrified.

“Quiet Jo” you order as another low growl comes from behind you now and a twig snap to the right. You were being surrounded, hunted.

“Jo” you whisper calmly “how fast can you run”

“Pretty fast” Jo replied

“Good because we’re going to run like our lives depend on it, because they do” you say quickly. “Jo, run. Now. That way” you point towards the clearing to the left.

“GO” you nudge Jo in the right direction. She needs no more encouragement as she takes off like lightning, with you fast on her heels.

At first you don’t hear anything. You hope that whatever it was, decided that the man on the ground would make better pickings instead of two healthy, spry specimens. Your hope died before you could even finish your thought. 

You hear twigs snapping and growling coming from behind. Guess whatever it is, enjoys the thrill of the hunt.

“Shit” you say outloud “run Jo, whatever happens, keep running and don’t look back” you order. Jo gives no reply as she concentrates on where she’s going. It’s getting dangerously dark now, your fear ramping up to 11. You can’t see the creatures, but you can still hear them. You concentrate on the footfalls.

One creature? No, two now, as a second set of thuds are added to the first. 

“Great, just what we need” you thought. The snarling and snapping of jaws behind you is all it takes to keep you and Jo motivated to keep running. You’re so focused on listening to the creatures and trying to keep mental tabs on them, that you don’t notice a root sticking up from the ground. 

Your foot snags on it and you go toppling forward, taking Jo down with you, hard. Jo cries out in pain, but she’s alive, unlike the two of you will be soon if you allow yourself to worry about her now.

With no time to get up and run from the first creature, you quickly grab your spear in both hands and lay yourself over Jo, protecting her the best you can.

The footfalls get louder, and heavier. The snarls get more fierce as the creature realizes its closing in on its prey. Your heartbeat is thundering in your ears. You can see it coming now, you didn’t recognize whatever it was. If you had to guess, it would be some kind of wolf hybrid. Whatever it was, it was big and it was angry.

You do the only thing you can do. You angle your spear and steady yourself for the incoming blow.

“Hang on Jo” you yell as the wolf leaps into the air towards the two of you. Not very smart at least, you think as the wolf sails through the air and right on top of your spear. You grunt with the impact, trying not to squish Jo beneath you.

The wolf yelped loudly and struggled wildly on top of the spear. You use all your strength to quickly shove it off of you. You leap up and don’t hesitate to drive the spear deeper. The wolf cries out and immediately stills. You have no time to pull the spear out this time, or even to revel in your victory. 

The second wolf howls in the distance. Its footfalls getting louder as it snarls rabidly, almost seeming like it knows what you just did. You quickly go over to Jo and hoist her up by her arm. She yelps in pain.

“Jo, we gotta go. We gotta go now. I’m sorry” you order. Jo just chokes back a sob and begins to run once more. You heart pangs when you hear her sob, but you don’t have the time or the luxury to worry about it right now.

The two of you keep running and you can tell Jo is starting to get tired, you are too for that matter. Both of your footsteps are getting heavier as you slog through the thick foliage. You two can’t keep up this pace for much longer. The wolf though, never seems to get tired as you hear it gaining on you.

You have to think of something and think of it fast. Your lives depend on it. You run a little while longer. Then you hear it, running water, no, roaring water. Roaring water meant waterfall right? You have no other ideas and no other options and you can only pray your good luck you’ve had so far holds.

“Jo, head toward that noise” you yell. Jo needs no explanation as she adjusts her course. The wolf following even closer behind.

“Just a little bit further Jo, hang in there” you say. As you both get closer your spirits lift slightly, it IS a waterfall. Your elation fades soon after that thought. It was a BIG waterfall. You quickly weigh your options. Big waterfall vs. a snarling, snapping, angry pack of wolves. You pick the former, not wanting to get ripped to shreds.

“Jo, do you trust me” you ask her

“Yes Y/N” Jo offered with no hesitation, almost out of breath. You realize she's fading fast. This is your only hope.

“Come on Jo, hold tight and whatever you do, don’t let go, ok” you say as you lift her up mid run and carry her close to your chest. As you get closer to the edge, you have no time to hesitate, no time to check and see if it's safe. You just hope and pray that it's deep enough and that there aren’t any jagged rocks at the bottom.

“Hold on Jo, here we go” you say, not slowing down one bit as you fling yourself and Jo off the side of the cliff. You concentrate on holding onto Jo for dear life as she screams in your ear. You both tumble through the air into the unknown. The snarling and snapping fades away like a distant memory.


	3. Bourbon

Jim sat in his Captain's chair, wound up tight, barely hearing all the commotion around him. He had all the crew looking and listening to anything and everything that could possible give him a hint or a clue as to where you and Jo had been taken.

“Were being hailed Captain” Uhura exclaimed.

“On screen” Jim ordered.

The face of the Romulan who took you captive filled the screen. Jims eyes narrowed with anger.

“Greetings, Captain Kirk. So nice to finally meet you” Ajek said.

“Where is my sister” Jim asked frostily.

“Ah, straight to the point I see. Well, no need to leave you suffering. Your sister is suffering plenty enough for you both” he said as his face disappeared from the screen and video of everything you’ve been through so far begun to flash on the screen.

From Kujeth cracking you in the head, to you being chained up in the middle of the forest, to you attacking the man, to you running from the wolves, to you finally flinging yourself and Jo over the cliff. The video feed cut out and Ajek’s face came back on screen.

Jim didn’t realize he had stopped breathing and his fingers were dug into the chair so deep, that they started to leave marks. His lungs were screaming in pain as he struggled to take in breaths, trying not to make it obvious. He had to keep it together.

“As you can see Captain, she is still alive, at least I assume. That tumble off the cliff did look like a long way down” Ajek sneered.

“Who the hell are you and why are you doing this to my sister” Jim eyed him, barely keeping himself contained.

“Your sister asked the same thing, Captain. I’ll save you the agony of waiting and get on with it. My name is Ajek, but you might be more familiar with my father... Nero” Ajek finished.

There was a pregnant pause before Jim leapt up from his chair. 

“You sick bastard! This is about revenge isn’t it” Jim began to yell, as he flew out of his Captains chair “We offered your father help and he refused! It wasn’t our fault he chose to die rather than swallow his pride. My sister has nothing to do with his decision or his death” Jim spat venomously, hands resting on the back of his chair for support, chest heaving after his outburst.

“Captain…” Spock said quietly.

That was all he needed to say to get Jim to realize that he needed to calm down. Jim came back over and sat down in his chair heavily, still trying to catch his breath.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you let him die, Captain. He's still dead because of you, is he not? You took away everything from me on that ship. Now I have everything important to you” Ajek sneered “You will watch her suffer until the end. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to it. Until next time, Captain” the vid cut off suddenly.

The bridge was grave silent as they either continued to stare at the screen or stare at the Captain waiting for instructions. Jim sat there staring at the screen before he snapped out of it. 

“Trace that call, run algorithms on it, do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what it takes, you find out where that came from. That’s an order”

The bridge came to life with a bunch of “yes Captains, right away Captains” as people returned to their stations. 

Jim was still planted firmly in his seat, trying his hardest to keep it all under control, failing miserably. He didn’t even notice when Spock came to stand beside him.

“Captain” Spock began cautiously. He placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder lightly. So lightly that if Jim wasn’t seeing it, he wouldn’t have realized it was there. Jim just sat there, staring at the screen where you and Jo were seconds before, barely able to breathe, his mind reeling. 

“We will find them, Jim”. Spock promised quietly.

Jim couldn’t respond. He shot up out of his chair. “You have the conn, mister Spock” he said quickly as he made his way off the bridge. 

Bones. He needed to find Bones.

Jim had been searching and trying to comm Bones for an hour to no avail, giving him the time to cool off before he had this talk with him.

“Where the hell are you, Bones” Jim muttered to himself. Suddenly he had an epiphany. Jim about faced and headed quickly down the hall. He stopped abruptly and punched in the code on the keypad. 

As the door to your quarters opened, Jim could see Bones sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at a tumbler filled to the brim with bourbon.

Jim made his way inside and approached Bones. “Jesus Bones, how much have you had” Jim asked eying the empty bottles on top of the counter.

“Not nearly enough” Bones said, slurring his words, his drawl out in full force.

“Well I think you’ve had enough for now” Jim says softly as he moved the glass and pitcher slightly out of Bones reach. Bones made no movement to protest, only staring at the now vacant spot the pitcher previously occupied.

“Talk to me Bones, what’s on your mind” Jim asked sincerely.

“You don’t wanna know Jim” Bones replied.

“Sure I do. Let it all out, It’ll be good for you” Jim told him. Bones said nothing at first and only steeled his gaze at the counter.

“Where the fuck do I start, Jim? I just lost my daughter, she wasn’t even here 12 hours and she gets kidnapped! What kind of father lets that happen?! God damnit, Jocelyn is going to kill me, Jim” Bones yelled, then paused for a moment and continued in a hushed cracking voice “Joc is never going to let me see my little girl ever again, Jim” Bones finally finished slouching his shoulders forward in defeat.

“Like hell you won’t, Bones. Joce will have to get through me and Y/N first if she even thinks about taking Jo away from you” Jim said threateningly “Y/N would murder her, she already hates her guts anyway. That would just give her a good excuse”

“What about Y/N, Jim” Bones asked quietly, changing the subject. Jim sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Despite my obvious calm, cool, and collected exterior, I’m about to lose my fucking mind Bones. Were all each others got and I swear to God, if they hurt her or Jo…” Jim trailed off, taking Bones grim demeanor into consideration.

“Bones, if anyone can protect Jo, its Y/N. You should be glad that she's with her”Jim said, changing directions.

“Why is that, Jim” Bones asked, still looking the complete opposite of glad. Jim sat down next to Bones, not looking forward to this conversation.

“I know I’ve told you some of our past, but never any details” Jim started.

“Details of what” Bones asked, finally looking over to Jim.

“Tarsus IV” Jim said quietly “this is going to require a lot of alcohol..” he trailed off as he made to grab Bones full tumbler. Bones sat in silence as Jim drained the glass in a few long pulls. He sat the glass down softly and refilled it, placing it back in front of Bones. Bones ignored it, giving Jim his full attention now.

“You know the surface details, all the stuff in the news and the articles. What you don’t know is the lengths we had to go to to survive. Jim said as he began to stare at the place Bones was staring at previously, trying not to concentrate too much on what he was saying.

“They had put us all in a group, all the children. The ones who were too young to be of any good, just a waste of resources. They lead us out into the woods, and we knew what was coming. We had heard the previous screams and gunfire, despite them trying to keep us separated in a building. As they lead us out into the woods, Y/N and I made a break for it, a few of the other kids followed our lead. Thankfully it was getting dark so it was hard to see, but still some of us didn’t make it” Jim closed his eyes trying to keep it together, taking a breath before he continued.

“We were out there for two months, give or take. Y/N was the only girl and the youngest to make it in our little group of 8. She had to work twice as hard for everything, fighting, hunting, climbing, getting enough to eat, you name it”

Bones was completely silent, eyes wide, barely daring himself to breathe. Jim and Y/N never talked about Tarsus IV, and here Jim was, spilling his guts, trying to make him feel better. He felt a twinge of guilt but decided to ignore it. He wanted to know, he needed to know.

“And boy did she ever. The first month was hard, we barely had enough to eat, almost froze to death multiple nights, or almost eaten by predators. The other kids would pick fights with Y/N over food, sleeping space, anything and everything. Even though it sucked, it ended up helping us, by the end of the first month, Y/N could outfight any of the others, hunt better than any of them, and climb trees faster than anyone. That's when we decided to go off on our own, and spent the last month just the two of us. Y/N kept us both alive for the most part, Bones” Jim paused, staring vaguely in the distance, as if in another place.

“Jim” Bones said softly, trying to bring Jim back to himself.

“Sorry Bones, that's enough of that” Jim said crisply, making it clear that the subject was closed “so Bones, if anyone can take care of Jojo, and keep her safe, its Y/N. She would do anything for that little girl” Jim finished.

“I know, that's what I’m afraid of Jim” Bones replied softly.

“What do you mean” Jim looked at Bones confused.

For a moment Bones didn’t answer. When he finally went to speak, his lips parted but no words came out.

“Spit it out, Bones” Jim encouraged.

Bones sucked in a deep, jagged breath. “I love her, Jim” Bones finally spit out, looking Jim in the eyes.

“YOU WHAT” Jim’s eyes went wide in shock, practically leaping out of his chair.

“I love her, Jim” Bones repeated, the words tumbling out more freely this time.

“HOW, WHEN, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME” Jim proceeded to flip out, trying to think back and figure out when this all started and how the hell he seemed to miss it. 

“Jim, calm down, please” Bones asked softly. Jim placed his hands on the back of the chair and lowered his forehead to rest on the edge of it. 

“You love my sister” Jim suddenly calm, lifting his head and slowly allowing a glare to overcome his eyes.

“Yes Jim, I do. I have for a while, mostly since working together in medbay. There’s just something about her, Jim. She’s like my rock. She keeps me calm, cool and collected when all I want to do is freak out. She makes me feel more like myself when I’m with her, more than I have in years. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t get her back Jim, or Jo. I can’t lose them… I can't...” Bones confesses as a tear falls down his cheek, giving him the most heartbreaking look that Jim has ever seen on his face.

Any anger that he had for his best friend falling in love with his sister, immediately dissolved. If anyone deserved his sister, hell, it was Bones. 

“Were going to get them back, Bones. I swear to you, we’re going to get them back” Jim said resolved “The whole crew is working on it. We all want them back”. Bones just sat there and wiped his cheek with his hand.

“Alright, Bones. Im cutting you off for the night” Jim said as he took the tumbler from Bones hand.

“I know, you’re right, Jim” Bones said defeated. 

“Want me to walk you to your quarters” Jim asked, moving to help Bones stand.

“No” Bones said quickly “I’d like to stay here”

Not having the heart to refuse his friend, Jim just nodded in agreement. “Alright Bones, go get some rest. I’m going back to the bridge to see if anyone has found anything yet”.

Bones only nodded in reply as Jim clasped his hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. 

“Hang in there Bones” Jim said softly as he turned to leave and headed back to the bridge.

As the doors swished closed quietly, Bones let out a large sigh and took a look around your empty quarters. Tears prickled at his eyes once more as he runs his hand over the back of the couch.

Bones hangs his head in silent defeat as he rubs his face with his hands as he staggers into your bedroom, maybe he did have enough he thought, as he leaned against the doorframe for support. He slowly makes his way over and crawls into your bed. He traces his hand over the sheets where you usually lay, still ruffled slightly from where you had slept last before leaving the ship.

Bones looks over to your end table and sees Joanna’s favorite teddy bear that he got her for her fourth birthday sticking out of her backpack. He just reaches out for it and takes it in his hands, looking into the teddy bears eyes for a few moments. He then places his hand on the teddy bear’s head, feeling its softness, and closes his eyes. He pulls it close to him, squeezing it tightly, as the tears finally began to fall and soak into its soft fur. He buries his head in your pillow and inhales deeply, letting your soft scent calm his frazzled and bourbon soaked mind as he slowly drifts off into a restless sleep.


	4. Unexpected

You came slowly back to consciousness. The blood in your ears was roaring. Finding yourself coming back from unconsciousness was beginning to be a really annoying habit you think to yourself. 

Wait a minute, that roar, that’s not blood roaring in your ears. That’s a waterfall you conclude. Waterfall? “Jo..” your eyes snap open and you sit up immediately.

“Jo” you tried to say, but you began choking on a lung full of water.

“Hey, easy there. Take it easy, lass. You took quite the tumble” you heard a voice say that was definitely not Jo’s, but belonged to a man. 

You heard the man walk up behind you, then felt their hand on your back and the other start to snake underneath your arm to help you up.

You rocketed to your feet and turned around to face the man, putting space between the two of you. 

Your hands immediately started fumbling for your bow, only to have your heart sink when you don’t feel the bowstring across your chest.

“Easy lass, easy. I’m not going to hurt you” the man said as he raised his arms in the air.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you” you say, regarding his every movement and giving him a thorough once over.

“Wheres Jo” you ask, fearing the worst.

“Relax, shes further inside, getting warm by the fire. Which is what you should do, you’re soaked and shaking” the man replied.

You stared at him and noted the look on his face and he seemed to actually look concerned about you. He was right though, you were shaking. Although you weren’t sure if it was from being cold or from the adrenaline.

You reluctantly took your eyes off the stranger in order to take in your surroundings. You realized you were in a fairly large cave, a cave behind the waterfall.

“The names Paul, what’s yours” Paul asked as he offered out his hand. You made no move to shake his hand or offer your name. Paul almost looked hurt.

“You don’t trust me, I get it, but if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead, both you and the girl” Paul stated.

“He's right” you thought. He could have easily killed you both and been done with it, so why hadn’t he? Curiosity getting the best of you, you relent and extend your hand.

“Kirk, Y/N Kirk” you say as you shake his hand.

“Kirk” Paul questioned quietly and surprised “makes sense”

“What’s that supposed to mean” you ask

“Come on, we’ll talk by the fire. We don’t need you getting hypothermia. I’ll also bet you want to see your daughter” Paul said as he made to lead you further inside.

“My daughter? Oh, no, Jos not my daughter. Everyone seems to think so apparently, which is probably why she’s in this mess with me” you grumble as you follow Paul further in, still not completely letting your guard down.

You began to smell the telltale smells of a fire. As you got closer, you could see a tiny shadow dancing on the walls in the fire light.

“Jo” you yell, pushing your way past Paul.

“Aunt Y/N” Jo exclaims “You’re awake! I was so worried” as she runs up and gives you a hug with only one arm. You hold Jo close, soaking her shirt once more in the process. 

“Come on Jo, let’s get dry” you say as you move to usher her toward the flames. You notice she’s holding her arm close to her chest.

“Jo, are you ok” you scrutinized 

“Yeah, I'm fine Y/N” Jo replies quietly. Afraid you would beat yourself up if she admitted you hurt her when you fell.

“Jo” you stop walking and put your hand on her tiny shoulder “don’t lie to me Jo, please. Not now, not here” you plead. Jo just guilty and stared at her feet.

“I think she hurt her wrist, but she won’t let me get close enough to have a look” Paul said helpfully.

“Good girl Jo. Now let’s have a look” you say once again, leading Jo to the fire.

“This might hurt a bit, ok” you say as you go to lift her arm to you.

“Ok” Jo breathes out, letting out a tiny whimper as you take her wrist in your hands gently and start feeling and manipulating it around. Jo winced at your movements and tried to yank her wrist away involuntarily.

“I’m sorry Jo, I’m done now. I’m pretty sure its broken” Jo just let a tear roll down her cheek in response. You’ll feel better once we set it and get that bone lined up. I promise” you say as you reassure her with a hug.

“Paul do you have any sticks, ropes, anything” you ask finally acknowledge his presence.

“I can probably come up with something” Paul replied as he left the small room.

You sit down on the ground next to the fire, up against the cave wall. You encourage Jo to sit on your lap, which she is all too happy to do so. She curls up in your lap with her head on your shoulder. You lean your head over and rest your cheek on the top of Jos head. 

You were tired, no, exhausted. You hadn’t slept since that night in the cell, and that wasn’t very long. That tumble off the cliff had completely done you in. The warmth of the fire began to seep through your still damp clothes and warmed your core. You began to doze off.

“Here you go, lass” Paul said as he came back in the room.

You snorted yourself awake. When did you fall asleep? How long had it been? Paul had brought some straight sticks and some twine and fabric. It wasn’t much but it was better than nothing. You took the supplies from his outstretched hands gratefully.

“Thank you” you mumble “ok Jo, let’s get this set. I’m not going to lie or sugar coat it. It’s going to hurt because I’m going to have to pull your wrist back so the bones will line up right”

“I understand, just please hurry” she asked. Jo had always appreciated you talking to her like she was an adult and not glossing over any details just because she was a child. This time, however, she was not appreciating it one bit.

You took her wrist and began to get to work, explaining everything you were doing before you did it.

“How does that feel, Jo? Feel better” you ask.

“Yeah, thanks Aunt Y/N” Jo replied sniffling slightly.

“You did great, Jo. I’m proud of you. You’re one tough little girl” you said smiling down at her.

“I learned from the very best” Jo replied sleepily.

“That you did, Jo” you say as you give her a kiss on the top of her head “you need to get some sleep. I’ll watch over you”

You pulled Jo back in close as she laid her head in your lap. You began to run your fingers through her hair until you heard her soft snores.

You chuckle to yourself “she takes after Bones” you thought as her soft snore comforted you. You sigh as you laid your head back against the cave wall.

“Go ahead and get some sleep, lass, you look like hell. I’ll take watch for a few hours, we’ll talk in the morning” Paul offered.

You thought about protesting, but you were too damn tired. Against your better judgement, you closed your eyes and promptly fell asleep.

\--------

“Aunt Y/N, Aunt Y/N, wake up” Jo repeated as she shook your shoulder “get up, it’s breakfast time” You snorted awake and groaned, you ached in places that you didn’t even know existed.

“Breakfast” you ask as you give Jo a questioning look “Jo.. what..”

“It’s not much, but it’s really all there is that’s edible around here” Paul walking in the room and offered you a leaf full of what looked to be fruits and nuts.

“Thanks” you reply while giving it a once over.

“It’s not poisoned” Paul laughed “when are you going to trust me”

“Maybe when you tell me who the hell you are and how you know me” you say as you take a tentative bite. Whatever it is, is pretty good. You begin to inhale it, realizing how hungry you really were.

“I’m just like you, someone who pissed them off. Weapons deal gone bad, specifically. So here I am” Paul replied stretching out his arms.

“How do you know who I am” you question as Jo moves to sit in your lap with her own fruit and nuts. You squeeze her tightly.

Paul snorts “Who doesn’t know who you are, or at least your brother. Everyone has heard about that little incident”

“Oh” you grumble “just great. I should have figured. So how the hell did you find this cave, and figure out what’s edible in this hellhole in the span of a day”

Paul was silent for a few moments as he stoked the fire. “I’ve been here before” he said finally.

“Come again” you reply

“I was the winner of the last games” Paul replied glumly “There is no escape, just this arena. You either keep winning and coming back over and over, or you die. Either way, there is no escaping, there is no going home”

“This is wonderful news, here I was beginning to think the Romulans would be true to their word” you replied sarcastically.

Jo looked pretty glum “what do we do now Y/N”

“I don’t know Jo” you say, letting out a large sigh “I don’t know…”

“Well you’ve really only got one option” Paul replied.

You squeeze your eyes tight at his suggestion, you know he’s right. You were going to have to suck it up and just do it. Turn off everything in your mind but getting out alive. You couldn’t let Jo or yourself die in this hell hole.

“I know, you’re right” you say as you nudge Jo off your lap so you could stand. Good god you needed to stretch. 

“What’s the plan” you ask, looking to Paul.

\-----------------

Jim was in his quarters, standing in the shower. He let the scalding water cascade down his back and face as it mixed with his hot tears. He had finally allowed himself to breakdown, he felt so lost. He wished he could be like Bones, who probably hadn’t been sober for more than five minutes since you two were taken, but he had a ship to command.

Jim sighed and shut off the water just in time to hear his comm go off, he didn’t care. Jim slowly got out of the shower and dried himself off, while his comm went off yet again.

“Leave me the fuck alone” Jim cursed as he rubbed his face and hair with a towel. He looked like hell, felt like it too. He hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept since you two were taken. He and Bones were complete wrecks and Jim didn’t know what they were going to do if he couldn’t find the two of you. He didn’t want to think about it.

Jim sighed and closed his eyes and placed his head on the mirror, tears prickled threateningly at the corners of his eyes. He forced himself not to cry anymore. He took a deep breath, as his comm rang yet again.

Getting angry, he stomped out of the bathroom and picked up his comm and answered it angrily, foregoing any pleasantries. 

“What” Jim spat.

“Captain, your presence is requested on the bridge immediately” Spock’s voice filled the room.  
Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“What is it Spock” Jim asked frustrated.

“We found them, Jim” was all Spock replied. Jim dropped his comm where he stood and put on the nearest clothes he could find and raced to the bridge.

Jim arrived on the bridge in no time flat. “Where” was all Jim said in greeting.

“Kepler, Captain” Spock replied.

“Kepler? The hell are they doing on Kepler” Jim mumbled.

“They seem to have established a new colony there, Captain. Uhura was able to pinpoint around where the hail came from and we used the videos of Y/N to confirm that the terrain matched up. It’s a 91.6% match, Captain” Spock stated.

“That’s good enough for me, what are we waiting for? Get us to that planet Mister Sulu” Jim ordered.

“Aye, Aye Captain. We should be there in approximately 8 hours, sir” Sulu replied.

Jim groaned, “8 hours”? This was going to be an excruciatingly long wait. 

“Bones” Jim thought suddenly. In his haste and excitement, he completely forgot to comm Bones. He didn’t figure he would have answered anyway. He had holed himself in your room and refused to come out or talk to anyone. He’d have to go in person, he needed to check on him anyway.

Jim made his way to your quarters, punched in the door code and strode in quickly.

“Bones” Jim yelled, almost knocked off his feet. It smelled like a damn brewery in here. Y/N was not going to be happy if she found out Bones was drinking himself stupid.

“Bones, where the hell are you” Jim called out once more. No reply, great. Jim made his way to your bedroom and saw Bones lying on your bed, passed out with a couple empty bourbon bottle on the floor.

“Christ, Bones” Jim murmured, his heart breaking for his friend. Jim made his way to the side of the bed and began shaking Bones shoulder.

“Bones, wake up. Come on, up you get” Jim said “come on you idiot, wake up”

Bones just groaned in reply without moving a muscle or opening his eyes. “The hell for” Bones said as his words slurred together.

“Jesus, are you still drunk? You know Y/N is going to murder you, right” Jim asked as he took the covers and tossed them off the bed.

“The hell Jim” Bones complained “leave me alone”

“No, you’re getting out of bed and taking a shower and that's an order” Jim said using his Captain voice.

Bones glared at him before slowly making his way to getting up “I hate you, Jim” Bones said as he glared at Jim and rubbed his face.

“You won’t for long, now up” Jim ordered again as he went to grab Bones arm to help him up. Bones just swatted at his hands.

“Get off me” Bones grumped as he went to stand on his own, and began to sway dangerously on his feet. He had to grab Jim’s shoulder for support, Jim just smiled smugly at him.

“Shut up, Jim” Bones said as he let go of Jim’s shoulder and slowly made his way to the shower.

Bones staggered into the bathroom as the door swished softly closed behind him. He walked over to the mirror and placed his hand on it to steady himself. He looked sidelong at his reflection in the mirror. 

He looked like a complete wreck. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, his face was getting a 5 o’clock shadow, and his hair was a complete wreck, sticking up all over the place. He didn’t care. You and Jo were god knows where and he was stuck on this god forsaken ship, helpless to do anything about it. He punched the glass in your bathroom full force, shattering it all over the floor, as sobs began to wrack his entire body as he slid down the cabinet onto the floor.

Jim came running into the bathroom “What the hell Bones, I heard..” as Jim looked down at the defeated, sobbing man on the bathroom floor, surrounded by glass, with his hands gripping his hair and blood dripping down his arm from his hand.

“Jesus Christ Bones, what the ever living fuck” Jim exclaimed as he made his way over to Bones, crunching on the glass as he made his way to his friend. He went to grab Bones hand so he could get a better look at the damage. Bones tried to yank it away.

“Bones, stop it, let me have a look” Jim said sternly as he inspected Bones hand closer “just looks like you cut it up pretty good, you might need a stitch or two”

“I’m the doctor, I’ll be the judge of that, Jim” Bones replied, sharply yanking his hand away from Jim.

“Like hell, Bones. You aren’t fit to be the judge of anything right now. Now you are going to sober up and take a shower. Trying to destroy yourself isn’t helping anyone right now, least of all Y/N and Jo” Jim said sternly “now let’s get your lushy ass up and into the shower”

Jim helped Bones get undressed and into the shower, to make sure he wasn’t going to do anything else stupid. Once satisfied, Jim left Bones to himself.

Bones stood in the shower, letting the water run over his front, and down his arms. He watched as the water mixed with the blood from his knuckles and swirl down the drain. The pain of the water washing over the cuts on his knuckles helped sober him up. 

He knew that Jim was right, what he was doing was stupid. He just couldn’t seem to find it in him to care. He lifted his bloody knuckles and pressed it against the shower wall, hard. He winced as tears streamed down his cheeks, relishing the pain. 

“God dammit” he hissed “I hate it when Jim is right”. He needed to start caring, he had to think about you and Jo first.

He dunked his head in the water and let the scalding water run over the back of his head, washing away his tears and blood. He grabbed your shampoo and he poured it in his hands. It smelled like you, and it comforted him as he slowly started lathering it on his head.

Bones finished up and slowly made his way out of the shower and grabbed a towel and dried himself off. He glanced in what was left of the broken mirror and decided he looked somewhat more better now. 

He rummaged around in your cabinets, where he knew you kept a medkit. He opened it up and took out some antiseptic and some gauze and began to wrap up his seeping hand. He winced as he wrapped the dressing tight, but he welcomed the pain once more, craved it. It kept his mind at ease from the dark abyss that was ever present on the edge of his thoughts.

He padded out of the bathroom to grab a spare set of clothes that he and Jim both kept in your place, in case they ever fell asleep on your couch. He quickly threw the clothes on and headed out to the living room with Jim.

Jim was waiting on Bones with a cup of coffee. He handed it to him as he made his way to the couch.

“Thanks” Bones said “I hope there's liquor in this” as he took the coffee with his good hand.

“No more liquor for you Bones, I mean it” Jim ordered

“Yes, mother” Bones replied, as he took a sip “Oh, god, real coffee” as he savored another sip “So what the hell is so important, Jim”

“We found them, Bones” Jim said simply . It took Bones bourbon soaked brain a few extra seconds to process what Jim had just said. Jim saw the glint in his eyes when the gears finally clicked.

“YOU WHAT” Bones roared, almost spilling his coffee everywhere “When? Where? How?” Bones was in high gear now.

“Easy Bones, we traced them from…” Jim trailed off. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell Bones about the video that he had watched, that he had been watching ever since Ajek hailed you. With the fragile state his friend was in, he decided against it.

“..from the call when Ajek hailed the ship. A planet called Kepler. We should be there in about 7 hours now”

Bones just nodded his head in response and let out a huge sigh and ran his hand through his damp hair, making it stick up all over the place. He sat back down with his arms on his legs, rubbing his hands up and down their length, and staring at his coffee cup.

“Are they even..” Bones trailed off, not able to even say the word.

“We don’t know…. they had better be, or else Ajek will pay dearly. Come on Bones, we got work to do. You need to go to medbay and get a hangover cure or something and get that hand looked at. You really do look awful” Jim grimaced.

“Thanks a lot kid” Bones rolled his eyes but got up from the couch to make his way to medical. 

He felt somewhat better from the news, you and Jo were found. He just hoped you were both ok, still scared to death of the alternative, to possibly living in a world without one or both of you in it. He couldn’t live with himself if something were to happen to either of you, before he could confess his feelings to you, before he could make it up to Jo for being an absent father. He shook his head and forced the thoughts out of his mind. They would find the two of you and he would finally tell you how he felt, then he would never let you or Jo out of his sight ever again.


	5. Pain

You were busy stretching your sore and tight muscles. It didn’t seem to be doing much good, unfortunately. 

“Honestly, there’s really not a whole lot we can plan” Paul said glumly “You know the only thing we can do to get you and Jo out of here”

“I was really hoping you’d say that you know of a super secret escape hatch” you say wistfully.

“I wish, lass. I wouldn’t be here if I knew of one” Paul laughed.

“Well, there’s nothing for it and we can’t just hide in here” you say as you start to gather up your bow and arrow, which Paul had brought into the cave earlier with Jo.

“You never told me why you’re helping me” you say as you sling the bow over your shoulder.

Paul snorts “because screw Ajek, and screw this place. I’m done playing by his rules. Besides, he’s never dragged a kid into this before. That’s low, even for him, offering her up as bait”

Paul walks up beside you and hands you a rock sharpened into an arrow head, tied to a branch with twine. “For the little lass” Paul said quietly.

You take the crude spear from his hands silently. You look to Jo as she’s staring at the last of the fading fire. You have an internal struggle. She’s too young, she shouldn’t have to have any reason to use a spear. On the other hand, there’s no reason that the two of you should be here either. You can’t just leave her completely unprotected. You curse inwardly.

“Hey, Jo. Come here” you ask quietly. Jo turns and strides over to you, looking up into your eyes “Jo, you know what this is” you ask gently while holding out the spear to her.

“Yeah…” Jo trails off apprehensively.

“I want you to hold onto this Jo, and keep it close” you say as Jo gets the implied meaning. She really was too smart for her own good.

“You want me to… use this” Jo looked at the spear like it had just turned into a snake.

“I want to be smart Jo” you began, phrasing your words carefully “I don’t know what else is out there. I’m going to do my best to protect you, but it’ll make me feel better if you at least have something”.

Jo regarded you and the spear for a few seconds. “You’re right Aunt Y/N” Jo tightened her grip on the spear.

“Thank you, Jo” you say relieved as you kissed the top of her head.

As if the universe had just heard what you had just told Jo, you hear a soft snuffling sound coming from the larger cave you came in from. The snuffling noise sounded deeper than what any wolf could make. Great, you thought, just perfect.

You immediately grab Jo to keep her calm and place your finger on her lips. You look to Paul, his face steeled but still showing slight lines of worry. You closed your eyes and groaned softly. Here you go again.

You went out of the small cave first, with Jo clinging to your shirt with her good arm, and Paul close behind. You made your way to the front of your little off set room and stole a glance out into the larger room. Well, unfortunately, you were right. It was big, really big. Your eyes went wide. It looked to be a bear, a really, really big bear. It’s giant white face was matted with blood. You hoped it had saved you the trouble and killed one or two rivals.

“Its blocking the entrance” you whisper to Paul.

“We need to distract it” Paul says. You look around the cave floor looking for a rock or anything you can throw. You manage to find a few that you hope will make enough noise and throw them against the other side of the cave. It seems to work.

The bear begins to lumber to the other side of the cave. You slowly make your way out and around the off set door way. You wave your hand to Jo and Paul for them to follow. You make your way to the entrance of the cave slowly.

The bear snuffles and makes a lot growl, getting frustrated at not finding the source of the sound. You steal a glance to see that the bear is still investigating. That is, until Jo, turning around to see the bear for the first time, makes a small gasp.

“Oh Jo” you cringe inwardly. The bear turns around at the noise and growls loudly.

“RUN” Paul screams. His yell snaps you to attention and you’re turning to run before you can even think.

“Come on Jo” you yell.

“Im sorry” Jo tries to apologize.

“Just run” you order, as you take Jos good arm and pull her in front of you, putting yourself between her and the bear.

“What do we do now” you yell at Paul “where can we go”

Paul is quiet for a few moments, which feels like years when there’s a gigantic bear, behind you. A gigantic, fast bear. “Why is everything around here so damn fast” you curse inwardly. Why couldn’t it be killer turtles, or violent snails?

“Follow the stream” Paul yells “it gets bigger down river”

You pretty much have no choice but to trust him. You keep the steady pace as you guide Jo closer to the stream so you can follow it easier.

You could hear the bear crashing through the trees. It was like a juggernaut. Instead of being slowed down by the trees and foliage, it seemed to just be gaining momentum with every stride.

You weren’t sure which is worse, being torn to shreds by wolves or mauled by a bear.

“We’ve gotta pick up the pace” Paul yelled “we’re not going to make it if we don’t” the bear roared loudly behind him, as if to reiterate his point.

“Jo” was all you managed to say, lungs burning.

Paul picked up on your thoughts and maneuvered his way around you and picked up Jo, who yelped in surprise, and sprinted ahead.

“Damn” was all you could think as you watched Paul sprint almost effortlessly ahead. Then you suddenly realized you were now at the back and promptly quickened your pace. You ran a few hundred more feet until you noticed the stream getting wider and starting to flow faster.

“It’s just up ahead” Paul yelled. You noticed that he was beginning to tire as he continued to run. Him carrying Jo had helped to put a little bit of distance between you and the bear at least. Not nearly enough though, the bear was relentless.

Soon you reached the part of the river Paul must have been talking about. It was quickly turning into a roaring river. You didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. 

Paul ran further down to an overhang before suddenly screeching to a halt. You ran right into the back of him and almost sent you all toppling over the edge.

“Paul what..” you breathe out.

“Quick, there’s no time” Paul said quickly as he handed Jo to you. You took Jo and held her close as she clung to your neck.

“Paul, don’t. Whatever crazy thing you’re thinking, don’t. We need you” you pleaded as you could see the bear bounding closer in the distance, looking madder than ever. Jo whimpered into your neck quietly.

“You know this has to be done. It’ll just follow you downstream otherwise. Good luck Y/N, now GO” Paul shouted as he pushed you forcefully, making you lose your footing as you topple over the edge.

“You’re quickly enveloped in an icy cascade of water. Somehow in your surprise, you lost your grip on Jo. You kick frantically as you try to break the surface. You gasp as you’re finally able to take in a mouthful of air.

“JO” you scream out, choking on the water trying to escape your lungs.

You don’t see Jo anywhere. She couldn’t have possibly gotten that far, she was clinging onto you as you fell, wasn’t she?

“JO, where are you” you cry out once more. You search around frantically until your eyes land back up at Paul.

“You stupid son of a bitch, Paul” you screamed up at him, watching him twirl the spear that he took from Jo in his hands.

“I know, lass” he replied.

That was the last you saw of Paul before you were swept down river and around a bend.

You smacked the surface of the water in frustration and said a silent curse for his stupidity. Not wasting anymore time, you resumed your search for Jo.

“Jo” you scream desperately “please for the love of god, answer me…. JoJo”

You searched frantically as the river becomes wider and more swift. You’re having to kick, and strain harder to try to keep your head above the water and go in a semi straight line to avoid rocks and fallen branches.

“Please, Jo. I’m begging you, kid. Answer me! Anything” you plead as your eyes scanned everywhere. 

You were close to having a meltdown before you finally saw the hint of pink from Jo’s favorite shirt 50 yards away or so.

“Oh thank god” you murmur. Your thanks were short lived as you notice she’s face down and not moving in the swift current.

“Shit! JO” you scream, trying desperately to get your arms and legs to start working together to try to reach Jo.

You were making good progress as the river started to pick up even more. Worry flitted across your mind of another cliff. You pushed it down and concentrated on swimming. You grimaced every time Jo would bump into a branch or into a rock. 

You noticed in your peripherals the river turning fierce. Rapids, and not any gentle ones either. They encased your body and began thrashing you around, head bobbing under and above the water repeatedly. 

“Shit” you exclaim, coughing up water. You thrash around trying to get your bearings back, trying desperately not to take your eyes off Jo. You should have though. Then you would have seen the jagged rocks sooner.

Your eyes go wide. With the current of the river not only getting faster, if that was even possible, hitting those rocks was going to hurt and Jo seemed to be drifting right to them.

“Dammit Jo” you cry, as you went into overdrive. Jo was still, maybe, 25 yards away and those rocks weren’t much further out. 

You kick and paddle as hard as you can. You try to work with the river instead of against it. You push off from branches and rocks, clawing at the water, desperate to gain any ground, willing your body to work harder.

Your hard work pays off and you finally make it over to Jo with one last push off a rock. You grab Jo by the ankle and pull her toward you and lift her head out of the water. Her head lolls back onto your shoulder, she’s not breathing and she’s beginning to turn blue.

You were so focused on Jo, you had forgotten about the rocks until it was too late. Having no time to swim out of the way, you do the only thing you have time for.

You quickly move Jo behind you as you slam into the rock hard, Jos added dead weight, not helping. You gasp and sputter as pain shoots through your ribs, making nothing but white explode in your vision. You try to take in a few breaths but even that’s excruciating. It’s all you can do to keep your vision focused and keep ahold of Jo.

“Fuck it” you breathe out, not having much other choice. You launch yourself and Jo from the rock. Your chest explodes, but there’s nothing you can do about it for now. You have to make it to the bank, or you’re both dead.

This time though, you start making your way across the river, towards the bank. Every movement sends pain flaring from your chest, but you grit your teeth and choke it down.

You’re finally able to make it to the bank after what seems like an eternity. Being out of the water and having your ribs feel the full weight of gravity and pressure on them was absolute agony. You had bigger issues to deal with at the moment.

You haul Jo up on the bank and immediately open and sweep her mouth before beginning CPR. You frantically begin humming “another one bites the dust” to match your compressions. 

“Damn, why do they pick the most morbid songs” you think as you pinch Jo’s nose and give her small puffs of air.

“Come on Jo, don’t you dare give up on me” you cried as tears streamed down your face. You switched to “Stayin alive” as you restarted compressions. Not a lot better, but it helped.

You continued chest compressions and breathing for what seemed like hours, but it had probably been only minutes. Your chest was continuing to protest angrily.

“Jo, come back to me” you order, getting angry “after all we’ve been through Jo, I am not letting you give up! Not now”

You gave Jo another breath and she started to sputter and tried to cough up the water in her lungs.

“Jo” you yelled “that’s my girl! Come back to me Jo” you encouraged as you began to tilt Jo on her side as she choked and spit up all the water.

“Atta girl Jo, you’re ok, get all that water out for me” you say quickly, as you rub her back.

Jo choked and sputtered for a few more moments before finally taking a deep breath and gulping in all the air she possibly could, like she had never breathed before.

“You’re ok Jo, you’re alright. Calm even breaths for me Jo” you encourage.

“Y/N” was all Jo could croak out.

“I’m here Jo, I’m here. I got you” you reassure her. At those words, Jo began to sob.

“Hey now Jo, it’s ok, you’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promised” you say softly. Jo sat up now and turned to you and went to wrap her arms around you and squeezed you tight. You yelped at the pressure.

Jo immediately withdrew. “Did I hurt you, Y/N? I’m sorry” she said softly.

“It’s not your fault Jo” you say as you began to press in on your ribs. You grimace as you hear a slight crunch each time you did. “Yep” you think “definitely broken” 

“Jo, help me take off this shirt” you ask, thinking quickly.

“What are you doing” Jo asked, moving to help.

“I have to splint these ribs Jo. This is all I got” you say as you pull your shirt over your head gingerly, leaving you in a tank top. You fold up your shirt the best you can and lay on top of it.

“Alright Jo, I need you to push in right here for me, ok” you say as you guide her good hand to your broken ribs.

“Is this going to hurt” Jo asks.

“I sure hope not Jo, but probably. No matter what, don’t let go, ok” you order. Jo just nods in response as she moves into position.

“Ok push in” you say. Her little hand feels like a 20lb weight. The pain makes you see a few stars. You try to muffle your cries, but despite your best efforts, a few get through. Jo is a trooper though, and doesn’t let up. You maneuver your shirt around your chest the best you can and tie it tight.

“Ok Jo, you can let go now” you say, completely out of breath. You lay there for a few seconds trying to catch your breath and wait for the pain to settle down to a manageable level. You had hoped it would anyway.

“How are you doing Jo? Are you ok” you breathe out, trying to take your mind off the pain.

“I’m ok Y/N. I just want to go home” Jo said, as a tear slipped down her cheek. You didn’t blame her one bit, you were ready to cry and get off this damn planet too.

You lifted your hand to wipe Jo’s cheek, “You’ve done so well Jo. You’ve been so brave. I’m so proud of you. I know this has to be hard for you Jo. This is a scary place, but I’m going to get us out of here, I promise” you said as you gave her a tiny smile.

“Im trying” Jo said as she sniffled and gave you a tiny smile back “and I know you will, you’ve gotten us this far”

“You’re damn right, Jo. Now let’s get going. Help me roll over” you asked. Jo leaned against your the best she could and helped you roll over to your side. You took a short breath and steeled yourself. You slowly got up to your hands and knees.

“Whew, Jo, this sucks” you joke, trying to take your mind off of it.

“You move around like daddy after he works out too much” Jo observed, also trying to help. You gave out a tiny laugh. What you wouldn’t give to see that right now.

You crawled your way to a rock and hoisted yourself up slowly. Jesus, that sucked. If you ended up on your back again, you would be toast if your lives depended on it. You decided to keep that bit of information to yourself.

“Where to now, Y/N” Jo asked, looking around.

“I really don’t know, Jo. Were in new territory now” you admitted defeated, as you made you grab your bow once more, thanking the heavens you didn’t lose it in the river.

“I guess we just pick a direction and go” Jo said as she took off first, you quickly on her heels as you make your way through the foliage.

\------------------------

You had been following Jo for what seemed like hours. Every breath and step made your chest flair in agony. You felt warm, was it warmer outside than what it had been earlier? You lift your hand to your face where you’re greeted with a slight sheen of sweat and feel your forehead. You feel warm. “Fever” you question. Surely not, you began to go over your symptoms in your head.

“I need to sit down for a minute, Jo” you say as you plop down on a rock, not waiting for a response

“Are you ok, Y/N” Jo asked concerned

“Yeah Jo, I just need to rest a minute” you reply tiredly

You sat on the rock for a while trying to regain your strength. You began to wonder if this place had a beginning or end. While you were deep in thought, you notice a big flock of birds take off and fly away, accompanied by a soft rumbling noise.

“What the hell” you ask thoughtfully as the rumbling began to get louder. Your thoughts immediately went to the bear, had it finally caught up with you? What happened to Paul? You put those thoughts aside as you noticed the rumbling sounded like hooves thundering against the ground.

You stand up on your rock and begin to look around. In the distance you notice a herd of what look like deer. “Huh, finally, something that won’t try to eat us” you thought fleetingly. 

Your thoughts then went to, “what might be trying to eat them”. The thought didn’t comfort you one bit.

“Come on Jo, we need to get going” you say as you go to grab her hand. As you go to reach out for Jo, you hear another type of rumble, not of hooves, nor footfalls. This was a deep earthen rumble that shook down to the very core of where you were standing. The whole landscape began to shake.

“Y/N, what’s going on” Jo asked beginning to get scared

You begin to panic slightly as the landscape begins to shake even more. How the hell do you outrun an earthquake?

“Come on Jo, we have to get out of these trees” you yell as you grab her hand and head for the clearing. You run out of the edge of the forest and to a more rocky terrain. The ground shook violently and you wondered how long this was going to last.

You hold Jo tight to you and crouched where you stood, trying not to lose your footing. You look down at your feet as you notice tiny cracks starting to dance across the ground.

“This is not good” you think to yourself “shitshitshit”

“Jo, we gotta run” you scream as you grab her hand and push her in front of you. You couldn’t run back to the forest for the falling trees, the only way to go was forward and that didn’t look promising, but you had to try. Taking in a breath and tightening your t-shirt around your ribs, you take off.

The cracks started to move more swiftly through the rock laden earth as you tried to outrun them. It wasn’t helping that the earth’s shaking was throwing you two off balance as you went. 

The earth was quickly giving way to the relentless shaking and it started to open all around you, having to jump over small fissures. You were looking around trying to figure out where to go, when you start to see a break in the earth unaffected by the shaking. 

“Jo, that way” you yell as you change her direction. You two make a beeline for the edge. The earth is breaking up faster than you thought. The crack runs by you swiftly and the earth begins to open up before your eyes at an alarming rate. 

“Shit Jo, brace yourself” you scream as you do your best to pick her up with your chest screaming in utter agony from the running and the shaking. You manage to pick her up enough and toss her across the gap, as the earth opens up even more and swallows you whole, disappearing from sight.

Jo skidded across the ground from where she fell. “No! Aunt Y/N! Aunt Y/N” she yelled as she picked herself up and ran back to where you fell. Thankfully the relentless earthquake was starting to calm.

“Aunt Y/N, where are you” Jo screamed as she skidded to a stop at the edge and tentatively looked down.

“I’m here, Jo. I’m ok, kinda” you yell up as your finger tips were clasped onto a tiny outcrop to cling to and your feet barely finding a tiny ledge to rest on.

“What do I do” Jo asked as she tried to reach her little hand down to you “I can’t reach you” as tears began to fall down her cheeks “please tell me what to do”.

“I don’t know Jo, let me think a minute” you reply. You had no idea what you were going to do. Your arms and legs were shaking from the strain of trying to hold yourself up and close to the edge. Your chest was on fire from the running and shaking and now trying to hold yourself up. There was no way you could climb up the side, even without broken ribs, there was nothing to cling onto.

“Aunt Y/N, please..” Jo trailed off choking back a sob “I’m scared”.

“It’s ok Jo, go see if you can find something to lower down to me, vines, stick, anything. But be careful and watch your surroundings” you yelled. You heard her little footsteps race off into the distance. You hoped she’d be ok off on her own.

You rested your forehead against the cool earth. You sent Jo on a fool’s errand you begin to think. Even if Jo did find something to pull you up with, Jo wasn’t big enough to hold your weight and you didn’t know if there was anything big enough around to tie anything to. And your ribs? Could they even handle the force and pressure of trying to haul yourself up? Tears slipped down your cheeks, you were exhausted and angry. It couldn’t end here could it? You’d come so far, you had to get out of this somehow, if only for Jo. She didn’t deserve to die here.

You clung to the side of the earth for what seemed like ages. Your arms and legs were beginning to turn to jello. You begin to think even if Jo did by some miracle find something, you didn’t know if you’d have the strength to do anything with it. 

“JO” you yelled out, starting to get worried “Jo where are you” as your feet begin to slip off their small crevice. This wasn’t going to last much longer and you had no place to go.

“Aunt Y/N” you hear Jo yelling faintly in the distance “Aunt Y/N I found the perfect thing”! Jos tiny footfalls fall softly on the earth as she comes to a stop at the edge. Jo peeks over the edge down at you and smiles. 

“I found the perfect thing” she says triumphantly.

“What did you find Jo” you reply as a hand is shoved roughly in your face.

“What the f…” you say staring at the hand and following an arm up to the owner's face.

“PAUL! Oh my god, Paul, you glorious bastard! You have no idea how glad I am to see your ugly mug” you said as tears now streamed down your face in relief.

“You didn’t count me out that easy now did you, Lass. I have to say I’m a little hurt” Paul smirked down at you “now let’s get you topside”

“Thank god, but I broke some ribs, I dunno if I can..” you began to explain.

“Shut up lass, I don’t want to hear any excuses from you. We’ve been chased by a bear and you went swimming in those rapids, you can do this. Time to put up and shut up” Paul said sternly “Now take my hand”

“You’re right” you reply as you grasp his hand, steeling yourself for what’s to come. You link your hand and arm together as Paul slowly starts to shimmy his way backwards. The sudden expansion of your chest makes stars explode in your eyes. You bite on your tongue to keep yourself from screaming out and just focus on getting up. You scramble the toes of your shoes against the side of the earth, trying to get as much traction as possible. You neared the top and stretched out your free hand to grasp the side of the ledge.

“Come on lass, almost there, put your back into it. It’s like I’m doing all the work here.” Paul grunts, trying not to hurt you too much as he pulls you up further.

“Shut your face, Paul” you wheezed out, utterly spent. Paul just chuckled.

“I got you Y/N” Jo says as she puts her hands under your armpit and tries to heave you up with as much strength as a ten year old can muster. Paul repositioned himself further down your arm and hoisted you up the rest of the way.

You flopped down on your back, so thankful to be on the flat surface once more.

“Solid, flat ground! I will never take the ground under my feet for granted ever again” you pant out of breath. Jo immediately coming to sit by you and taking your hand into her lap, holding it tightly.

“I’m just glad the little lass found me. I’ve been looking everywhere for you two. I followed the river and saw the indention of where you crawled out on the bank, but there wasn’t much else to go on” Paul said

“I am too. You did a good job Jo, I’m proud of you” you said softly as you squeezed Jo’s hand tightly.

“We’ll give you a few minutes to rest, then we better get goin” Paul said as he stood guard.

“Just… just 5 more minutes” you wheeze as you again check your shirt “help me tie this back Jo”. After your shirt was securely back in place, Paul help you slowly to your feet.

“You going to be ok, lass” Paul asks, giving you a once over.

“You kidding? I’m alive! I could run a marathon” you explain and went to take a few steps and wince in pain “Ok maybe a half marathon” 

Paul just laughs at you and pats your back softly “Whatever you say lass” as Paul starts off in front of you and you and Jo follow closely behind.

\----------

You had begun to walk back through the forest. It at least provided some shade from the relentless sun. You had been walking for what felt like ages. You were exhausted, you were hungry and your mouth so very dry. 

“Jo, Paul, I gotta stop for a minute” you say as you sit down on a rock, as a wave of nausea hits, not even waiting on a response. 

“Are you ok, Y/N” Jo asked concerned.

“Yeah, Jo. I’m ok, I just need a rest” you answer winded. The nausea gets increasingly worse. “Please don’t puke” you plead with yourself, not wanting to imagine what retching would do to your poor ribs. 

You close your eyes and focus just on breathing. Paul comes and sits beside you and starts rubbing your back with his hand, his gesture oddly comforting. Jo crawls over to your side, rubbing your arm gently.

“I love you, Jo” you say as you head is between your knees.

“I love you too, Y/N” Jo replies as she rests her cheek on your back.  
The three of you must have dozed off because you didn’t hear the commotion before it was too late.

You heard a twig snap, and voices coming from the trees. Your eyes flew open. You and Paul lept to your feet, much to your ribs protest, and swallowing down any hint of nausea that might have remained.

You immediately unslung your bow and had an arrow knocked in two seconds flat. Paul had his trusty spear out, covered completely down the hilt with blood. 

“Jo stay close” you whisper. You didn’t have to say anything as Jo was already attached to your leg. You and Paul scanned the forest for the owners of the voices. You didn’t have to look long before you found the source of the noise before four men stepped out from the tree line.

“Son of a..” you think to yourself.

“Take one more step, and this arrow flies in between your eyes” you say threateningly.

“Aye, we don’t want to have to hurt the lot of ye” Paul added, equally as menacing. Apparently his accent came out in full force when he was stressed.

Three out of the four hesitate slightly. The fourth just gives you a smug smile and begins to advance. Not giving him one more step, you release your arrow. True to your word, the man falls backwards with an arrow planted in between his eyes, a look of shock forever strewn across his face.

“Holy hell, lass. Where’d you learn how to do that” Paul asks you impressed.

You don’t reply. You quickly knock another arrow and are faintly aware of Jo clinging even tighter to you, burying her head in your hip.

“Anyone else want to try” you ask menacingly.

“Give us the girl” the one with the mace said “our beef isn’t with you”

“If you want her, then your beef is entirely with me. You’re going to have to get through me first” you warned.

“Aye, me as well, ya bloody wankers” Paul said as he twirled his spear around.

“Very well” he replied as the remaining three began to spread out “this should be fun”.

You let another arrow fly as the began to advance. They were expecting it now, and quickly dodged out of the way. “Damn” you thought glumly. You reached back into your quiver for another arrow, last one, better make this count.

Since they were expecting head and upper body shots, you decide to take a different approach. You quickly loose the arrow before they could react, hitting your target. You took out the guys knee, who was carrying an axe, with a clean shot. He dropped to the ground in agony, that quickly turned to rage as he broke the arrow in half and pulled it out.

“Shit” you said quietly.

“Leave him to me, lass” Paul said as he advanced, tightening his grip on his spear.

“Now what are you going to do sweetheart, you’re all out of arrows” the man with the mace said.

“Don’t count me out just yet, asshole” you mutter as you turned to face him head on. You weren’t quite sure what you were going to do honestly, you were still outmatched and your ribs were still on fire.

That is until you felt Jo, moving beside you. Before you had a chance to see what she was doing, you saw a rock whiz past your head and hit the man squarely in the nose. “Kids got aim” you think as she keeps throwing rocks, one after the other.

“Cut it out you little runt” the man growled, focusing his attention on Jo “I’m going to enjoy gutting you”

You saw nothing but red at his words and you used to temporary distraction to charge the man and tackle him like you did the very first. This time though, your tackle wasn’t quite as efficient thanks to your broken ribs and utter exhaustion.

You did at least manage to knock him off his feet, but he grabbed your pants and brought you down with him, as his mace tumbled out of his hands.

You manage to land on top of him, and get in a few blows first, successfully breaking his nose. This makes him angry, he bucks you off and grabs you by your waist and throws you down hard. You grunt from the pressure and pain flares up through your chest once more.

The man gladly returns the broken nose you gave him. Stars once again danced in your vision as blood pours down your face. You struggle violently until he renders you immobile by punching you in your ribs. You scream an ungodly scream as pain sears through your abdomen.

You figured you were done for, as your body shook as pain ripped through every fiber. So many things went through your head, from Jim, to Bones, to Jo. God, how you completely failed them all with not being able to get you two back safe. You stole a glance over at Paul, who was busy getting his face beat in, trying to reach his spear. Hot tears began to streak down your face.

“That’s it, cry for me you little bitch. I’m going to have so much fun with this” the man smiled menacingly as his hand began to play with the top of your pants.

The man suddenly shrieked in pain as something thudded against his temple.

“Leave my aunt alone” Jo screamed with all she had as she held the mace in her hands. The man was stunned to say the least, but not for long. He began to recover.

“You little RAT. That’s it, I’m done playing games” he said as he went to grab Jo. Jo wasn’t fast enough and only made it a few feet before he grabbed her and began to choke her. 

“I’m going to enjoy this” he said, tightening his grip. Jo tried to scream but she couldn’t

“Hey, jackass” you shout from behind him. Startled, the man turns quickly, just in time for you to run the other man’s axe across his throat. He immediately releases Jo and clutches his throat.

Blood cascades like a waterfall down his neck and down the front of his shirt.

“If you relax, you might have four minutes to live, less if you panic” you say coldly “each beat of your heart is just going to push more out”

You leave him to his slow agonizing suffering and turn toward Jo. She’s just sitting there watching the man, slowly bleed out, rubbing her throat absently. You quickly go to her and turn her around.

“Jo, hey, are you ok” you ask and she just nods in reply, as you lift up her chin gently with your hand as you inspect her throat. Slightly red, but not too bad.

“Can you speak for me, Jo” you ask quietly.

She nods “yeah, just sore” she replies.

You pull her in for a quick hug as you survey the scene. One man with an arrow between the eyes, another with Paul’s spear through his chest, with an unconscious Paul laying beside him, and thanks to other man’s axe, one was seconds away from bleeding out in front of you.

You pause for a second. “That’s 3” you mutter “wasn’t there…” you began to think, but were cut off as you look down as you feel a pinch and see a shiny gleam now protruding from your stomach. “Four” you finish in you head as the man twists and yanks the sword back out.

How could you have lost track of how many men there were? How did you not hear him sneaking up behind you?

You were vaguely aware of Jo screaming and yelling your name as you drop to your knees as blood begins to pour from your wound and your mouth. You wondered if he punctured your lung as well. The man moves in front of you and pushes you onto your back.

“I want you to watch as I kill you” the man says. You’re not sure you could anyway as your eyes are beginning to lose focus as you lay choking and sputtering as your own blood begins to fill your lungs.

As the man brought up his sword to deliver the final blow, all you could think was of everyone you were leaving behind. The people you loved, who you would never see again. The things you wanted to do but would never be able to now.

You waited for the blow, but it never came. You could make out some commotion and some voices here and there.

“Uncle Jim” you swore you heard Jo yell. Jim? It couldn’t be. Could it? You continue to choke on your blood, slowly losing consciousness from lack of oxygen.

“...choking, Unc- Jim… her over” you hear faintly as you feel pressure on your side. You figured if by some chance you weren’t dead yet, you were fixing to be as you felt your eyes roll back into your head as you began shaking violently and uncontrollably.

“Shit… seizure… scotty…. us up” was the last you heard before darkness consumed you once again.


	6. Confession

You had drifted in and out of consciousness. Every time you roused, your body was on fire. You wanted to scream, but your body wasn’t responding, wasn’t functioning. The sounds of some kind of commotion were getting louder before you allowed the pain to take you away once more into unconsciousness.

Sometime after that, when your mind became aware again, you felt pressure on different places, then a warm liquid snaking its way through your veins, you succumbed yet again.

You finally come to again, noting it was much quieter than before. You tried to open your eyes but they were still too heavy, as were your arms and legs. You kept your eyes closed as you focus on the soft beeping behind your head. 

You begun to be aware of how completely and utterly crappy you feel. Everything was sore and you hurt in places you never even knew existed. Your stomach hurt, your head is pounding, your chest ached and your mouth is a desert.

You lay there for a few minutes, listening to the beeping before you can finally muster the energy to open your eyes. You stare up at the ceiling for a few moments, getting your eyes to adjust. When they did, you gave a tiny smile. You’d know that ceiling anywhere, you were back on the Enterprise. You felt so happy you could cry, if only you could find the energy.

You figured it must be late. The lights were dim and there was no one around, except whomever had a hold of your hand. You made a small movement so you could look over and see who it was.

“Bones” you thought “Oh god, is this real? Is it really him” You looked past Bones to the couch on the side of the room and saw Jim passed out, arms and legs dangling everywhere. 

You looked back to Bones and back to Jim and realized how completely awful they looked. Both Bones and Jim had noticeable stubble covering both of their faces. You could see the bags under Bones eyes, and assumed Jims wouldn’t be much different. Their hair was sticking up in every direction, tunics wrinkled. Geez, how long have you been out?

You gather your strength and gently squeezed Bones hand. Bones must have been seriously on edge, with how quickly he sat up in his chair. He looked at your hand, then looked up toward your face, almost wondering if he had imagined the squeeze.

When his eyes met your barely open ones, he let out a choked cry of joy. He hopped out of the chair and took his hand and placed it on your cheek and rubbed his thumb across it.

“Welcome back, Y/N” he whispered and gave you a smile “Jim wake up”! Jim all but toppled off the tiny couch in surprise at Bones loud voice and rubbed his face with his hands.

“What Bones” he yawned as he went to look Bones way, but met your eyes instead “holy crap, Y/N” Jim yelled as he leapt up off the floor “thank god you’re awake” and scrambled over to the other side of your bed, taking your free hand into his and leaned over to kiss your forehead.

“You had us all so worried” Jim breathed.

“Jo, Paul” was all you could croak out. Bones just gave a small chuckle.

“Paul took quite the crack to his skull and suffered a intracranial hemorrhage, so he’s still recovering in a different room. Jo is just fine, thanks to you. She’s up in my quarters. I wanted you to be awake before I let her down here. Her wrist is fine too, clean break. It should be healed up in a few weeks” Bones said reassuringly “let’s look at you”

“Jo helped me save your life, Y/N. She seemed to know just what to do, from turning you over and clearing your airway, to helping stop the bleeding. She’s one tough, smart kid, despite being Bones’ daughter” Jim replied to you smiling and smirked up at Bones. You return his smile, laughing ever so slightly as tears pricked the corner of your eyes as you looked to Bones.

“You’re hilarious Jim, really” Bones replied wearing a mixed look of contempt for Jim and pride for Jo, as he pulled down your blanket and lifted your gown. Your eyes went wide “jesus christ, that’s a big wound” you think. Bones palpated around the hole in your stomach.

“Does this hurt” Bones asked. You take in a sharp intake of breath and just nod in response.

“I thought so” he replied as he moved up to your ribs “How about these” Bones asked as he palpated your ribs softly. You gave a loud yelp, in reply.

“Jesus Bones, that really freaking hurts” you breathe out

“It’s going to take a while for those to heal. You still have a few rounds with the regenerator before they’ll start feeling better” Bones frowned “you took quite the beating”. Bones gave a pregnant pause.

“I even lost you a couple times on my operating table, you scared the shit out of me. I didn’t know if we would get you back once, let alone twice” Bones rubbed his scruffy face and ran his hands through his hair to keep the tears at bay “what the hell happened to you Y/N” he added quietly “Jo won’t even talk to me about it”

You looked down, finding your hands interesting all of a sudden, not missing that Jim was shifting uncomfortably beside you. Bones missed it, he was busy looking at your vital screen. He saw your blood pressure start to climb and your breathing shallow. He rested his hand on yours.

“I’m sorry I asked, we don’t have to talk about that now” he said gently “how do you feel”

“Shit” was all you could muster. Bones and Jim both gave quiet laughs. Boy that felt so good to hear their laughter, as it danced through your ears.

“I bet” Bones agreed “I’m going to up your pain medicine, you need to rest. I’m sure Jo is going to be begging to see you now that you’ve come around” Bones said as he was busy pushing buttons on your IV box.

You felt the liquid shoot through your veins and it burned at first, then you felt warm and heavy all over as you sighed and closed your eyes.

“Get some rest Y/N” Bones said as he grabbed your hand once more and squeezed it gently, running his thumb over your knuckles. You tried to squeeze back but you felt yourself fading too quickly.

\----------

You awoke sometime later, feeling somewhat more coherent. You squint as you glance around the room. The medbay was fuller and busier than it was the first time you woke up.

“Y/N, how nice to see you awake” a voice caught your attention.

“M’Benga” you croak out as you gave him a smile “god, it’s good to see you”

“Likewise, Y/N, how are you feeling” he asked as he began to check your vitals.

“Like complete crap” you say flatly “where is everyone”

“If by everyone, you mean your ragtag trio, Jim is on the bridge, probably talking to Starfleet now that you’re awake. They’re in quite the uproar, understandably so. Little Joanna is in class, and Leonard has been banished to his quarters under threat of sedation. He hasn’t left your side since you’ve been back” M’Benga gave you a small wink.

“Paul” you ask quietly

“He’s still in intensive care, it’s been touch and go, but he’s holding steady. It looks promising” M’Benga replied.

“How long have I..” you trailed off

“3 days, but it’s to be expected. Coming back from death tends to take it out of a person” M’Benga joked lightly “your body went through some severe trauma Y/N. Now, Leonard wanted me to comm him as soon as you woke up, but he hasn’t been gone too long”

“Don’t, please. He needs to rest, that idiot” you plead. M’Benga just chuckled.

“I agree with you. I wasn’t planning on comming him, as long as you eat a little something for me” he negotiated. Your stomach rolled and you wrinkled your nose. Food was the furthest thing from your mind, even though you knew you needed to eat.

“I don’t know if I can, I feel awful” you reply.

“Well if you don’t eat at least a little something, then I’ll have no choice but to comm Leonard. Then you can deal with the sleep deprived angry doctor as he rants about how you need to eat something” M’Benga just lifts an eyebrow at you.

“Ugh, fine. Anything but that, you win, call off the dogs” you relent, too exhausted to fight any further.

“I figured you’d see it my way. I’m glad you did, I wasn’t looking forward to that either” M’Benga sighed in relief “I’ll at least comm the Captain and let him know you’re awake and I’ll have a nurse bring you something to eat”

“Thanks M’Benga, you’re the best” you reply as you give him another small smile.  
\------

You were sitting up slightly, propped up on as many pillows as possible, as you munched on some crackers, cheese and some grapes. Proud of yourself for keeping it all down so far, but you decide not to press your luck, as you sit the grapes aside, your door swished open quietly.

“Jim! Oh god, Jim” you say as your eyes well with tears “I never thought I’d see your dumb face ever again”. Jim strides over to your bed laughing.

“I see someone is feeling better” he says as he kisses the top of your head.

“I don’t know about better, I just feel more awake. Will you help me move over, this position is getting uncomfortable” you said while wincing from the pressure of the pillows pushing on your ribs.

“I’m just glad you’re awake and insulting me again, it’s like music to my ears” Jim jokes as he helps you move to a more comfortable position. You wear a grimace on your face the entire time.

“This sucks” you reply out of breath.

“Well what do you expect? Four broken ribs, concussion, run through with a sword, infection, dying twice, just to name a few” Jim replies, using his fingers to count them “You’re going to give me a run for my money in the injury department”

“Very funny, Jim. Ugh, don’t remind me” you mumble “how’d you find us anyway”

Jim sighed and waved his PADD in his hands “Ajek hailed us and sent us this video of you and everything that was happening to you and Jo” Jim started as he played the video on his PADD. “Short version is that we traced it and confirmed the planet to the video, warped over and beamed down two parties. One for you and Jo and one for Ajek. As far as finding you personally, well, we just followed the screams” Jim’s eyes turned dark.

“Is he…” you ask tentatively. 

“No, he’s here on the ship, locked away in the brig. I decided death would be too easy for him” Jim said as if still trying to convince himself “Spock captured him and brought him on board”

Your biobed gave you away before you could register it. Your heart rate and blood pressure rose, as you began to get angry. You glanced over at your stats, and realized if you didn’t calm down, you’d set off the alarms.

The last thing you needed was a room full of nurses all over you. You could also just imagine Bones linking your biobed to his PADD to alert him if the slightest thing was amiss. You force yourself to take slow even breaths in order to calm yourself. You did not need a grumpy, worried doctor in your hair right now.

Jim sighed and rubbed the back of his neck “While Bones isn’t here Y/N, about the video..” Jim starts cautiously “Bones kinda, sorta, maybe, doesn’t know about it” he said quickly.

“The video? You hid that from him? He is going to be super pissed, Jim” you said shocked.

“I’m hoping he won’t find out. You didn’t see him, Y/N, he was an absolute mess. I couldn’t bear to show him everything you two were going through, it was awful” Jim grimaced.

“Tell me about it, but you know he’s going to ask about what happened” you point out.

“I know, but I figure hearing and seeing are two different things” Jim explained.

“Ok, fine, I won’t mention it, but all this falls on you, Jim. I don’t need him on my ass about that too. I’m going to have enough to deal with from him” you eye Jim.

“Fine, deal” Jim agreed.

\------

You and Jim had been sitting there for a while, just talking about nothing mostly. How the ship was doing and the crew, mostly just relishing each other’s company.

A little while later you hear your door swish open and a blur of brown hair, followed by a haggard looking Bones steps in the room.

“Aunt Y/N, Aunt Y/N, you’re awake” Jo exclaims as she runs over to Jim and crawls in his lap so she can get closer to you.

“Hey, kiddo! How are you? Hows that wrist? I heard you helped save my life back there Jo, thank you” you say, as you take her little hand in yours.

“Good! Daddy said it’ll be healed really soon. I remembered what you did for me, and told Uncle Jim just what to do” Jo beamed at you “I love you Y/N and I want you around forever”

“Aw, Jo. I love you too, I’ll be here as long as you want me to. That’s really good to hear about your wrist, I’m glad” you say relieved, as that seemed to be the extent of her injuries. “Heya Bones” you throw in as he made his way over to your empty side.

“Hey, Y/N, good to see you’re coherent” he offered you a smile “how are you feeling”

“Like death warmed over, nauseous from the pain medicine, I’m sore in places I didn’t know existed, my stomach hurts, and my ribs are aching but I’m alive” you say quietly.

“And we’re all thankful for that” Jim says. Bones shoots Jim a meaningful glance, and Jim immediately understood.

“Jo, what do you say we go down to the cantina and get Y/N something to eat” Jim asked

“Ok, uncle Jim” Jo agreed, turning back to you “we’ll be back soon aunt Y’N. Don’t go anywhere” Jo ordered as she leaned over and kissed your cheek.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Jo” you laugh quietly. With that Jim and Jo left the room, leaving you and Bones with the quiet beeping of your biobed.

You regard Bones for a few moments as he messes around on your stat screen.

“What was up with that” you question, since it seemed Bones wasn’t going to be the first one to speak.

“With what” Bones replied almost too quickly

“You know what, Bones. I can read you like a book, and you weren’t exactly smooth about that look you gave Jim” you reply, eyeing him.

Bones sighed and plopped down in the chair beside your bed and took your hand in both of his gently.

“I don’t even know where to start” Bones said quietly. You almost quipped out a joke but decided against it after seeing the pain in his eyes.

“Bones” you question softly “what’s wrong, talk to me”

Bones just sat there trying to form words, opening and closing his mouth a few times. You squeeze his hand gently.

“We almost lost you Y/N” he started quickly, prompted by your squeeze “We.. I almost lost you and Jo. I don’t… I don’t know what I would have done if either of you hadn’t come back to me” he takes in a long jagged breath “I was a complete and utter wreck. I couldn’t stand not knowing where you were or if you were even alive, it destroyed me. Then to get you back and have you die twice on me… in my OR… right in my hands...I can’t .. I can’t pretend anymore Y/N, I can’t do this without you, I need you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, I…I love you Y/N” 

Bones was looking down at your sheets, refusing to look at your face. It was probably a good thing. Your mouth was so wide, you could probably park a truck inside. After a few moments, you finally find your voice.

“Well, I guess I can’t read you like a book, because I was not expecting that” you breathe out. Bones didn’t reply, he didn’t move. He just sat there gripping your hand like a lifeline.

“Bones..” you say gently “come on look at me”. Bones still refused, breathing hard with tears shining in the corners of his eyes. Knowing the only thing that would get him to cooperate, you go all in.

“I love you too, Len” you say, tugging on his hand slightly. Using your pet name you gave him a long time ago when you said anything sincere to him.

“You.. you do” Bones questioned as he finally looked up at you.

“Yeah, you big idiot” you say warmly “I have for a while, maybe we’re both idiots if we missed each other’s signals”

“Maybe so” Bones chuckled, relieved that you felt the same way “I’m so glad you’re ok Y/N. I’m serious when I say that I don’t know what I’d do without you”

“Probably lose your mind, get on everyone’s nerves, murder Jim.. ect” you say playfully.

“Something like that” Bones said as he sat on the bed beside you and put his hand on your cheek and looked into your eyes. You saw everything in those hazel eyes, his sincerity, his worry, his thankfulness, and his love he had for you.

“Len…” you say quietly. Bones just leaned over and ran his hand through your hair and gave you a long, soft kiss. As his lips touched yours, your body exploded. Not in pain, but this time for a completely different reason. Bones pulled back reluctantly after a few moments and brushed his thumb across your cheek.

“Wow” you breathe out

“I agree” Bones said, as you felt his chest rumble beside you.

A few minutes later, Jim and Joanna came back into the room.

“We got your favorite soup, Aunt Y/N” Jo exclaims proudly.

“Aww thanks Jo, I can’t wait to eat it” you reply, really hoping you can keep it down. 

Moments later you had Jim on one side of your bed and Bones on the other and little Jo, much to Bones protest, up on the biobed with you, curled up on your unbroken side. You were happier than you could remember in a long time.

After everyone was done eating, Bones turned to Jo.

“Alright Jo, time for you to go back to quarters. Y/N needs to sleep”

“Aww, do I have to” Jo whined

“Yes, Jo, up you get” Bones ordered.

“Fiiinnee” Jo pouted “get better Y/N, I’ll be back soon” Jo said as she kissed your cheek.

“Good night, kiddo” you reply, kissing her back.

“I’ll take her up if you want” Jim said “I need to go that way anyway. I’ll be back in a few”

“Alright Jim” you reply. 

“Piggy back ride, Uncle Jim! Pllleeeaaasseee” Jo asked. Jim laughed and lifted Jo off your bed and gave her a piggy back ride out of the room.

“What a long day, I’m exhausted” you say as soon as Jo and Jim leave the room.

“I bet. You need to get some sleep darlin” Bones said as he got up to go to your IV box.

“Please don’t” you say quickly “I feel awful now as it is without more sedative running through me. I’ll go to sleep on my own, I promise” you plead.

“I don’t want you in pain Y/N” Bones said sternly and sighed as he looked at your pain indicator, noting its elevation “at least let me give you a pain killer”

“Pain killer, fine, sedative, no” you reply equally as sternly.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute when you get all pouty, sweetheart” Bones said as he gave you a soft kiss on your forehead and walked over to you IV box and punched a few buttons.

“Thanks Len” you reply yawning.

“You’re welcome darlin” Bones chuckled as he gave you another soft kiss on your lips “get some rest”.

You nod in reply as Bones helped you to lay further down in the bed. Bones went to move the sheet over you when Jim’s PADD tumbles out from underneath.

“Huh, must have forgotten it” Bones said as he went to pick up Jim’s PADD. He flipped it over and the screen came to life. Bones stopped where he was and just stared at the screen, eyes practically bugging out of his head.

“Len” you say quietly “what is it” you ask, knowing full well what was on that screen last. 

Bones made no movement, no reply. The only indication that he hadn’t frozen solid was the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

“Len… hello” you repeated. Bones narrowed his eyes and flips the screen to you. You take in what’s playing on the screen.

“Shit, Len, don’t watch that” you plead. It was too late, he had already watched it all and was working on the second loop. Helpless to do anything but plead with him, you try your best.

“Len.. Please, don’t do this to yourself. We’re fine, no matter what the video shows” you tried to grab onto his pants pocket “please Len…”

You could feel Bones begin to shake, chest heaving with every breath. A cold fury began creeping into his eyes. You don’t think you’d ever seen him this angry, he looked seriously scary.

“To myself?! Is this what you went through Y/N? Is this what that asshole put you through” Bones roared. You grimaced at the loudness of his voice but nod your head, not daring to speak. Bones finally put down the PADD and looked over at you.

“Alright” Bones said simply while nodding and turned quickly.

“Alright what? ….. Len!” you call after him as he stormed out of your room.

“This wasn’t going to be good, not good at all” you think to yourself.


	7. Anger

Bones made his way out of your room, ignoring your pleas. He made his way to his office and grabbed some things from his cabinet. He made his way swiftly to the turbolift, without saying a word or passing a glance at anyone. Everyone gave him a wide berth when they saw the look on his face. 

His anger was finally able to be released and replaced everything else that he had put on the forefront these past 6 days. An anger that he hasn’t felt in a long time began to arise, the anger of a protective father, and protector of the one he loves. 

He quickly made it inside the lift and punched a few buttons and he began to descend. He exited the lift and made his way deftly toward the brig.

“Good evening doctor” Spock greeted him “to what do I owe this late hour visit”.

“I’m not here for you Spock” Bones replied coldly, as he made his way over to the correct cell and stared inside.

“Ah, I see doctor, you need to examine the patient” Spock replied, lifting his eyebrow knowingly.

“Indeed, I do” Bones said in a whisper, as his hands balled up in fists as he began to shake slightly.

“Then I will be over here so as to give you some privacy, Doctor” Spock replied as he placed his hands behind his back and went to busy himself elsewhere.

“Ah, doctor, so nice to finally meet you” Ajek sneered “I wondered how long it would take”

“You sick, twisted, son of a bitch” Bones all but roared.

“It did make for good tv, didn’t it” Ajek replied “Which part did she show you first, doctor. I hope it was the stabbing”.

“That’s it, you mother fucker” Bones said as he punched in his override, as the wall disappeared. Bones strode over and grabbed Ajek by the collar and slammed him against the wall as hard as he could. Ajek just smirked at him and spit in Bone’s face.

“Oh, wrong move asshole” Bones growled and immediately stabbed a hypo to his neck.

“Succinylcholine” Bones replied to the shocked look on Ajek’s face. A paralytic, not enough to paralyze your lungs, just enough to make the rest of you useless. Bones shoved Ajek against the wall of his cell as hard as he could, once again. Ajek’s arms and legs dangled useless at his sides and his head lolled around in different directions. Bones pulled out yet another hypo from his pocket.

“Levophed” Bones snarled “or adrenaline, whichever you prefer. Just enough to make your heart race, to start sweating, to feel the fear of the fight or flight, yet you’re paralyzed and can’t anything about it. So maybe, just maybe you can get a small taste of what you put us all through.”

Ajek just looked at Bones with blank dilated eyes, and Bones just smiled. He threw Ajek across the tiny cell, against the other wall, thoroughly enjoying the sound of the impact he made as he hit the wall and fell to the ground in a useless heap. He launched himself at him and straddled Ajek.

Bones looked at his face once more and that anger hit him full force as he stared at the man. An unbridled fury consumed him making him see nothing but red. 

Bones balled his hand into a fist and brought it back and let it fly down to Ajek’s face with a sickening but satisfying crack. Bones pulled back his shaking hand as he watched the blood run down Ajek’s face from his nose. The blood reminded him of yours spread all over his operating room floor. 

Bones lost himself.

Bone’s hand flew without hesitation now, thudding loudly against Ajek’s face.

CRACK he thought of you and Jo being kidnapped and drugged, as he pulled back again.

CRACK he thought about that Romulan doctor touching you roughly and inappropriately. His hand flew back, slinging blood everywhere as it went.

CRACK he thought about you and Jo running through that forest from the wolves, terror plastered on both of your faces and then leaping from the waterfall. His knuckles were starting to split open from the force.

CRACK he thought of you running from that bear and getting swept away downriver trying to save Jo and busting your ribs, his hand on fire but he ignored it and gritted his teeth.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK his hand fell quickly as he thought of you having to revive Jo, the earthquake, the sword through your gut as his own blood mixed with the blood that poured from Ajek’s nose and mouth and gashes on his eyebrows.

He had lost count of how many times he had punched him, his hand screamed in agony, but he didn’t relent. Ajek’s face and his hand and clothes were covered with so much blood, Ajek was hardly recognizable. No one hurt the ones he loved, no one.

“BONES, what the hell” Jim shouted as he came in and tried to pry Bones off of Ajek. Bones looked absolutely feral. Jim took his hands and looped them around Bone’s arms and tried to pry him away, too afraid to get in the path of his fists. Bones wasn’t having it.

“Get off me Jim, let me go” Bones struggled wildly as he tried to shrug Jim off and continue to pummel Ajek’s face in. Jim gave one last valiant effort and mustered all his strength to hoist the larger man up off of Ajek. Jim managed to get Bones to his feet and shoved him back slightly and placed his hand on Bones chest.

“Hey, Bones, calm down. Come back to me, Bones” Jim said softly as he stared at Bones keeping his hand firmly placed on his chest. Jim was slightly frightened as he looked at his friend, hand covered in blood, with random splatters on his shirt, wild crazed look in his eyes, and his chest heaving. He had never seen Bones like this before, ever, and he never wanted to again.

“Bones, come on, let’s go” Jim prodded gently “He’s had enough, let’s go”. Jim began to shuffle Bones out of the cell, as something pricked his ears. Ajek laid on the ground, gurgling out a bloody laugh as the paralytic wore off.

Jim narrowed his eyes, and turned around quickly and putting all of his weight into it, brought back his arm and released it with all the force he could muster into Ajek’s temple, rendering him unconscious. Jim was shaking his hand when he returned to Bones. Jim grabbed onto Bones’ arm as he made to leave.

“He’s all yours Spock, get some licks in if you want” Jim mouth turned up slightly.

“No, thank you Captain. I already have” Spock replied as he punched in a code that brought the cell wall back in place.

“It is indeed a shame that Ajek has acquired such grave injuries during his capture on Kepler” Spock observed as he turned to Jim, raising his eyebrow once more.

“It is indeed Mister Spock” Jim replied as he and Spock exchanged tiny smiles. Jim turned to lead a still very angry Bones away to an empty room.

“What the hell Bones, you need to calm down” Jim said as Bones yanked his arm away from Jim.

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?! Did you watch the same video I did Jim? Oh yeah I forgot, you did, and then you hid it from me” Bones punched the wall with his non bloodied hand “how could you do that to me Jim? How could you hide that from me”? Jim grimaced as Bones words cut him deep.

“I know Bones, I’m sorry” Jim put his hands on the back of his neck and rubbed nervously.

“You’re sorry? Really Jim? Don’t you think I had a right to know? That’s my daughter” Bones yelled at Jim.

“I know, Bones. I know. I thought I was doing the right thing! You weren’t exactly coping in the healthiest way in the first place, you know. Did you think I wanted to show you that video so you could turn around and kill your liver even more? All it would have done was make things worse! It’s not like you could have done anything about it anyway, I didn’t want to put the extra stress on you” Jim said as he tried to defend himself, knowing it was useless.

“Like you needed the extra stress either, Jim. And maybe, just maybe if you had told me, I could have treated Y/N better and she might not have died twice in my hands. Do you even know what that was like for me, Jim? To watch her heartbeat flatline on me? To watch as life literally left her?” Bones shouted again as he knocked a chair over in his rage. Jim just grimaced and looked down at his feet guiltily, pain shooting through his heart. 

“I don’t know what else you want me to say, Bones. I messed up alright? I admit it, but it’s done and over now and they’re both safe” Jim spoke softly. Bones just stood there shaking with his hands in fists, blood dripping from his knuckles. Jim didn’t know the last time he had seen Bones so on fire. 

“Alright Bones, you win. You’re mad at me, I get it and I deserve it. I’m not going to make anymore excuses for my stupid mistake. Let’s get you cleaned up and back to medical. Y/N will flip out if she sees you like this” Jim sighed in defeat.

Bones went over to the sink and began to wash all the blood off his hand and arm, watching the blood splatter and spiral down the sink. He grabbed a spare uniform in the closet and changed out of his blood splattered medical tunic. Jim went over to put his hand of Bones shoulder, but Bones just shrugged him off and stormed past him. Jim sighed once more and followed Bones back to medical.

\------------------

You had been dozing on and off when you heard the door swish open and a very angry looking Bones strode in swiftly, followed by a very guilty and defeated looking Jim.

“I have to go back to the bridge. I’ll check on you later” Jim gave you a warm smile as he kissed the top of your head “keep an eye on your boyfriend” and swiftly made his way to your door. Bones just grunted in response as he checked your vitals.

“My what? Jim…” you trailed off as Jim turned around and gave you a wink as he strolled out the door. You looked over at Bones who was angrily pushing buttons on your stat screen. You vaguely wondered what the breaking point of the screen was.

“Bones, what’s wrong” you ask quietly.

“Your white blood count is a bit high. How are you feeling, Y/N, any pain or discomfort?” Bones asked deflecting.

“Bones…” you trailed off as you looked into his wild looking hazel eyes. He just stared back at you and his eyes pleaded with you to stop asking questions and just answer his for now. You sighed in defeat.

“Yeah, actually” you decide to just tell the truth “my ribs still feel like they’re on fire, and my stomach really hurts”

“Here, let me see” Bones said as he came over and pulled up your gown. You noticed his beat up hand.

“Bones, what in the world” you say as you grabbed his busted up hand in your own.

“Not right now, Y/N. Let me take care of you, please” Bones said quietly as he closed his eyes at your touch. You reluctantly released his hand.

Bones brought his hand back up silently and undid the compression wrap around your ribs. He began to run his fingers across your chest pushing in slightly in certain spots. You nearly jumped off the bed.

“Ouch, Bones! Damn” you exclaim.

“Sorry Darlin” Bones said softly “I had to check. I’ll use the tricoder from now on till you’re more healed”

“Thanks, I guess” you grumbled. 

Bones just gave you a small smile as he tightened your bandage once more and moved down to your stomach and lifted off the bandage. The wound was red and puffy. Bones palpated around the edges. You winced every time he pushed in.

“Looks like it’s getting infected, that explains the white cell blood count” Bones scowled “no telling what kind of germs and microbes were on that god forsaken planet. I’ll get you started on some antibiotics”

“Thanks Bones” you say quietly as he silently put some bio gel on your wound and changed the dressing.

“Are you going to tell me what’s up with you” you asked as you took his hand from off your stomach. Bones just sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at his torn up hand.

“Jim didn’t… Jim didn’t tell me there was a video, he hid it from me” Bones replied in a whisper. 

“I… I know” you replied just as quiet.

“You knew? Even you knew there was a video? And you didn’t tell me either” Bones leapt up from your biobed, getting angry once more.

“Don’t yell at me Bones. It wasn’t my fault that Jim didn’t tell you, and it wasn’t my place to say. Jim should have, I told him he should have. I told him that you’d find out eventually. I’m on your side here” you replied, not looking at Bones.

Bones glare immediately softened, of course it wasn’t your fault. Bones sighed and slumped his shoulders as he again took his place back on your bed.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for” Bones said as he took your hand into his “Just watching you and Jo going through all of that makes my blood boil”. Bones flexed his torn up hand

“Did you really go through all that, Y/N” Bones asked quietly.

“Yeah, we did, unfortunately. It was all too real” you breathed as you began to look back on everything that happened. It all felt like a damn nightmare.

“Thank you Y/N” Bones whispered.

“What” you replied, barely able to hear him.

“Thank you for keeping Jo safe and bringing her back to me” Bones said as he finally turned to you, looking into your eyes “Thank you for getting the both of you back to me”

“You don’t have to thank me Bones, I’d do anything for Jo” you replied

“I know you would Y/N, and yes I do. You don’t understand what it means to me. I would have lost myself if anything happened to the two of you” Bones replied as he brought his hand up to your cheek.

“Looks like you already did” you say as you take his torn up hand in yours “what happened Bones”. Bones just sighed

“My hand may or may not have repeatedly fell accidentally on Ajek’s face” Bones finally admitted “it wasn’t any less than what he deserves”

You snorted “that must have been tragic, I hate it when that happens” not caring in the slightest of any harm that Bones had inflicted on Ajek.

“Me too, sweetheart” Bones replied with a slight twinkle in his eyes. He ran his hand through your hair gently. You moaned softly as you closed your eyes and leaned into his hand. 

Bones just chuckled as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on your temple and slowly made his way down your jaw before coming to rest on your lips. His lips were soft and gentle, as you returned his kiss in kind.

“Love you, darlin” Bones mumbled against your lips.

“Love you too, Len” you reply quietly. Bones pulled away slightly and rested his forehead on yours. You closed your eyes once more and leaned into him.

“You’re exhausted Y/N” Bones observed.

“Tell me something I don’t know” you mumbled. Bones chest rumbled against you.

“I’m going to go get you that antibiotic and it’s about time for some more pain medicine” Bones said as he checked your pain levels and stats. You just groaned in response.

“Groan all you want darlin, you’re not getting out of it this time” Bones said as he went to get up off the bed.

“Can you at least fluff my pillow then” you ask sweetly.

“Now you’re just pushing it” Bones said as he crossed his arms

“Come on Len, please? I’m sick and injured and I can’t reach it on my own” you whine and make a tiny sniffing noise while giving him puppy eyes.

Bones rolled his own “You’re killing me here sweetheart. You’re lucky you’re so damn cute”. Bones helped you sit up gently as he fluffed your pillow and replaced it behind your back.

“Thanks Len, you’re the best pillow fluffer around” you compliment.

“Don’t I know it” Bones winked at you “I’m going to go grab your antibiotic, I’ll be right back”

You didn’t made it to see Bones come back, you had fallen fast asleep.

\------------------

You were awoken sometime later by a gentle tugging on you hand.

“Aunt Y/N, wake up” Jo whispered. You slowly start to come to and become aware of your surroundings while you search for the source of the tugging.

“Jo, what are you doing here” you slurred. You noted now lethargic and heavy you felt, figures. Bones had given you yet another sedative to make sure you stayed asleep. You made a mental note to yell at him later.

“I couldn’t sleep… nightmares” Jo said quietly as she played with the corner of your blanket.

“Oh Jo…” you say quietly “so you came all the way down here? It has to be late, does your dad know you’re here” you ask groggily while rubbing your face slightly.

“No… please don’t call him. He’ll just make me leave. I just want to be with you Y/N, you understand” Jo said in a whisper, giving you her super sad face.

“Aww, Jo. That’s not fair and you know it. You know I can’t say no to that face”

“Exactly” Jo looked hopeful.

“Fine Jo, crawl in” you say as you move your blankets so she can scoot in on your good side “your dad will probably find you when he does his rounds anyway, and when he does, I’m blaming this all on you Jo, you overpowered me” you say through a yawn.

“Ok, sure Y/N” Jo also yawned as she snuggled into your side. You kiss the top of her head as you snuggle in and fall asleep.

\--------------

You were right. It didn’t take that long for Bones to find the two of you together. Bones just stood there for a while, just watching the two of you sleep. He thought about just how lucky he was that the two of you were alive and on the mend. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy and relieved. He never wanted this feeling to end.

Bones thoughts were broken by Jim walking into your room. The light from the door rustling you from your sleep.

“What time is it” you groan, without opening your eyes, just knowing that Bones was in the room.

“Almost lunch time, sweetheart” Bones replied “what do you need Jim”

“Just thought I would check in and say that we’ll be docking in a few hours and finishing our initial shore leave. Pike also wants you to brief him on what happened Y/N, after we dock” Jim smirks

“Noooooo, not a briefing” you whine as you throw the blankets over your head.

“Sorry, Y/N, I can’t help you here. My hands are tied” Jim apologized, not holding the smile in his voice back very well. “I better get back to the bridge” Jim said as he strolled back out the doors.

“You know, I could just deem you medically unfit and put it off until you’re feeling better” Bones said after Jim left the room.

“Nah, it’s ok Bones, but thank you. Pike will just hound me till I tell him all about it” you reply glumly.

“Well then, let’s get you ready to go. Do you need to pack” Bones asked.

“Uhhh.. pack for what” you reply confused.

“Oh, did I forget to mention? You’re coming back to Georgia with me and Jo, Jim too.” Bones said matter of fact.

“What? Why?” you protest, as Jo began to stir.

“For one, you’re still under medical care and still recovering, and number two, you still need antibiotics for that infection and anything else that might come up, and lastly, I told you I’m not letting you out of my sight again” Bones replied with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Ohhhh... you better listen to him Y/N. That’s daddy’s serious face” Jo nodded. You just glared at Bones.

“The last thing I want on my shore leave is a grumpy doctor hovering over my every move” you pout.

“Well get used to it darlin, because it’s happening even if I have to sedate your ass into oblivion” Bones said warningly.

“Speaking of sedating...” you said as you tried to derail him, but it didn’t work.

“Don’t even think about running off either. I had a microchip implanted in you during surgery” Bones said, looking completely serious.

“You what” your eyes went wide.

“I'm kidding darlin” Bones eyes softened “mostly anyway. That’s for me to know and you to never find out” Bones smirked as he leaned over to give you a soft kiss. 

“It’s either this or you go straight to Starfleet Medical and wait out your recovery there.” Bones said serious once more. “If you behave, I'll make it up to you and take you out for a day before we have to board back here”

“Mmm fine” you breathe out “when you kiss me, all the fight leaves me”

“I’ll have to remember that, sweetheart” Bones replies as he leans down and gives you a longer and slower kiss.

“Ewww grosss” you faintly hear Jo say in the background.

\----------------------

The Enterprise had finally docked and everyone had made it off the ship, except you, Bones, Jim, Jo and a security team.

“We don’t have to stay if you don’t want darlin, you don’t have to watch” Bones leaned down to whisper to you in your wheelchair that he had forced you to sit in, much to you chagrin.

“I want to watch” you reply coolly as you stared at the security team dragging Ajek across the yard to Starfleet to stand trial. 

The state his mangled face was in gave you great joy. It startled you a little that Bones could inflict such damage to someone for you and Jo, but in the end you decided that you didn’t care and the asshole deserved everything he got. You loved that sweet, grumpy, overprotective man for standing up for you.

You sighed deeply as Bones now wheeled you into the big building, towards Pike’s office with Jim carrying Jo right behind you. You weren’t looking forward to this one bit, but you knew it had to be done.

“Hello, Y/N, it’s good to see you” Pike said as he placed his hand on your shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

“It’s good to see you too Sir, thank you” you reply as you place your hand on top of his, patting it softly..

“Come on, I promise to make this as short as possible” Pike promised as he took your wheelchair away from Bones.

\---------

Pike was true to his word, it also helped that Jim had sent Pike the video of you and Jo earlier as evidence. There wasn’t much more proof that they needed besides your word and your agreeance of what happened on and off the screen.

You sigh in relief as Pike wheels you back out an hour or so later.

“Thanks for your time Y/N. We’ll be in touch with our decision soon” Pike said as he patted your leg softly “take care and get better soon”. 

Bones once again took control of your wheelchair and wheeled you off toward the airport.

“Decision for what, Y/N” Jim asked as you all made your way down the street.

“They’re deciding on whether to go to war with the remaining Romulans or not” you reply.

“Serves them right” Bones said coldly “How are you feeling Y/N”

“I’m ok for now, that pain medicine is holding up juuuussttt fine, that was some good stuff” you say “I’m just ready to get the hell out of here already”

“Come on then, we have a plane to catch” Bones laughed at you.

\---------------------

You don’t remember much of the flight as you fell in and out of sleep on Bones shoulder, waking up to either him running his hand through your hair, or rubbing your back softly.

When the plane finally lands, you all make your way off quickly and through the long terminal to find your rental car.

“Cripples in the back” Jim shouts as he flings his luggage in the trunk and hops in the front seat.

“You’re such an asshole” you smack the back of Jim’s head softly as you make your way gingerly into the backseat. Jo climbed in on the other side and sat in the middle next to you.

“You can lean on me aunt Y/N if you get tired” Jo said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Thanks Jo” you reply as you wrap your arm around here and give her a small squeeze.

Bones finished putting your wheelchair in the trunk and climbed into the driver’s seat and the four of you hit the open road.

Sometime later you finally found yourself outside of the all too familiar family home of the McCoys. As Bones pulls in the driveway, Mrs. McCoy meets you in the driveway.

“There’s all my kids” she says warmly as she pulls Bones and Jim in for a hug, and lifts little Jo off her feet “and bless your heart Y/N, you look terrible” Everyone starts laughing, and Bones made his way to the trunk to get your wheelchair.

“Why thank you Mrs. McCoy, I try” you laugh along with them.

“Ohhh that’s not what I meant” she replied, realizing how that must have sounded “let's get you inside”

Mrs. McCoy took the chair from Bones and wheeled you inside as he and Jim gathered all the luggage with Jo trying her best to help.

Mrs. McCoy wheeled you in the front door and took you into the kitchen. You felt like the temperature dropped five degrees. “Odd” you think to yourself, that’s when your eyes fell to Jocelyn sitting at the table. “Well that explains it” you think. 

“Hello Jocelyn” you say bitterly

“Y/N” Jocelyn replied coolly. You both have a silent stare down after Mrs. McCoy excused herself after getting you a nice glass of iced tea, which you drank greedily.

“Y/N” Bones called out after you as he thunked the bags down on the living room floor. While Jo runs past him to go find her grandmother

“In here” you reply. Bones made his way to the kitchen.

“Is it cold in here or…” Bones began as he rounded the corner to the kitchen “Oh…” was all he said “it’s just you Jocelyn, what are you doing here” he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Did you really think that I wouldn’t have found out Leonard? It’s all over Starfleet news” Jocelyn replied quietly.

“I think this is a conversation for outside” Bones replied coldly as he made his way outside past Jim and Jo, with Jocelyn hot on his heels. You pinch your nose as they slam the door behind them.

“What a nightmare” Jim said as he came to sit by you in the kitchen.

“Tell me about it” you reply as you look out the window at Bones and Jocelyn, who appear to be having a screaming match.

“I don’t know what Bones is going to do if Jocelyn takes Jo away with her” Jim said as he too stared out the window.

“Away with her? What do you mean” you asked confused.

“Bone’s didn’t tell you” Jim questioned as you gave him a blank stare in return “Oh… apparently not. Jocelyn only agreed to let Jo come visit so she and her boyfriend could up and move everything to Europe, so she can take Jo away from Bones for good”. Your eyes narrowed in anger and you were about to reply when the front door burst open and Jocelyn came storming in.

“Were not through talking here Jocelyn” Bones roared after her. 

“Oh yes we are, Leonard. I’m going to see to it that you never see her again” Jocelyn screamed as she made her way to Jo’s room with Bones right behind her.

“Oh, hell no” you muttered as you steel yourself and push yourself up from your wheelchair.

“Uhhh, Y’N” Jim begins to protest “Bones will kill you if you get up out of that chair”

“Not right now Jim, there’s more important things to worry about” you say as you slowly make your way to Jo’s room, with Jim right behind you for support.

You slowly made your way up the stairs, grimacing all along the way now that the pain medication had worn off. The closer you got, the louder the yelling and fighting became.

“It’s not daddy's fault momma! Let me go” Jos cries fell on deaf ears.

“Let her go Joce” Bones growled as you noticed that Jocelyn had Jo by her good wrist as she struggled to break free from her grasp. You felt anger bubbling up in your stomach. You leaned against the doorframe for support, unnoticed by anyone in the room.

“Not on your life, Leonard. I’m taking her far away from here, and far away from you, and those two so called friends of yours” Jocelyn replies bitterly.

“And here I thought I was winning you over, Joce” you replied harshly as all their heads snapped in your direction. Bones just narrowed his eyes at you.

“What the hell are you doing up Y/N? Let alone climbing up the stairs” Bones growled at you. You held up your hand to quiet him, he could be angry at you later.

“This doesn’t concern you Y/N, so you can leave now” Jocelyn replies icily.

“It concerns me well enough, Jocelyn” you take a small breath “Legally speaking, you can’t take Jo, being a minor, outside of the United States without Len’s permission. He has every right to deny your request. Now, since your address is no longer in the States, primary care now falls to Leonard until you can go back to court and prove otherwise” you reply smoothly. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. 

“Didn’t think that one through, did you Joce” Jim interjected. Jocelyn looked shocked and loosened her grip ever so slightly on Jo’s wrist, who quickly yanked her arm away and ran over to Leonard and jumped in his open arms.

“I won’t go with you momma. I want to live with daddy and Aunt Y/N and Uncle Jim” Jo said with finality. Jocelyns look quickly turned murderous. Bones just stood there looking down at Jo as she glared at her mother, with what you swore were misty eyes.

“I suggest you leave before we get the cops involved” you said threateningly. Jocelyn doesn’t say a word as she leaves in a angry fury, making sure to deliberately shove you into the doorframe hard as she walks out the door. You grunt as your healing ribs make contact with the sharp edge of the frame. Bones sat Jo down gently and makes his way over to you and Jim makes to go after Jocelyn. 

“Leave her, Jim” you call out as you bring your arm around your ribs. Jim just scowls in Jocelyns direction, but does as you ask. You faintly hear the slamming of doors and tires screeching in the distance.

“What the hell were you thinking Y/N? Did she hurt you” Bones started to grumble as he slowly took your arm away so he could check your ribs.

“Not anymore than what’s already been done” you reply, with a wince “and I’m pretty sure I just made Jocelyn realize that she can’t just up and take Jo away from you”. Bones just sighed and looked down at Jo, who was looking quite happy that she wasn’t made to go with her mother.

“Thank you” Bones said as his demeanor softened “let’s get you over to a bed”. Jo came over and gave you a soft hug.

“Thanks for saving me again aunt Y/N” she said softly “I love you”

“I love you too Jo, you’re welcome. I’m always going to protect you, as long as you want me here” you replied as you rubbed her back gently “always”

Jim took Jo downstairs to help Mrs. McCoy fix dinner. Bones guided you gently to a spare bedroom and sat you down on the edge of the bed. He padded to his desk to grab his medkit.

“As much as I don’t approve, thanks for coming to the rescue back there” Bones said as he pulled back the blankets.

“You’re welcome, Len. I was glad to be able to put Joce in her place. It’s been a long time coming. I want to remember that look of defeat on her face, for forever” you replied smiling.

“I’m glad you did, I didn’t even think about any of that” Bones admitted sheepishly.

“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to read. I wouldn’t have put it past her to pull something like this, so I did some research during down times on the Enterprise” you shrug.

“God, I love you woman” Bones breathed as he sat next to you and leaned in to give you a kiss. It started out soft and gentle but it didn’t stay that way. Bones began to deepen the kiss as both of your lips fought for dominance, not really caring who won. You nipped at his lip roughly and Bones just growled in response as you smirk against his lips.

Bones placed his hand in your hair and pulled you closer, planting kisses along your jaw and slowly down the side of your neck to your shoulders, making you gasp and shudder. Bones nipped at your shoulders softly and pulled back slightly, out of breath.

“We better stop. If we keep going, I might break you.” Bones replied huskily and out of breath as he placed his forehead against yours.

“Mmmmm break me doctor” you breathe. 

“Don’t tempt me darlin, I’m hanging on here by a thread, a very, very thin thread” Bones groaned “There will be plenty of time for that when you’re healed”. You just whimper in protest.

“Doctors orders, sweetheart” Bones said as he climbed further into the bed “Come here”. He helped you scoot back and get comfortable as you lean back against him, curled up in his arms.

“Comfy darlin” Bones asked quietly “let me give you a pain killer” as he presses the hypo against your neck as gently as possible.

“Mhmmm” you hum as you bury your face against his chest. You just feel Bones chest rumble under you.

“I love you Y/N” Bones said quietly as he wrapped his arms around you, kissing the top of your head softly.

“Love you too, Len” you mumble as you quickly fall fast asleep.


	8. Epilogue

“Come back here, Jo” Bones called out over the crowd. 

“Oh Len, calm down and let her have some fun” you chided “shes fine”

“Do you not remember what I told you” Bones scowled “not out of my sight for a second” you just laughed as you tugged on his hand gently.

“Len, were at the petting pen, in the middle of the county fair. I’m pretty sure nothing here is out to get us. Especially now that we have a grumpy doctor to take care of us, everyone will flee in terror now I’m sure” you joked

“Very funny, you never know Y/N. I still don't like it” Bones grumped. 

“You can’t possibly watch us every second, Len” you replied as you began to pet a baby goat. 

“Just try me sweetheart” Bones challenged, narrowing his eyes. 

“Oh, stop it. Come on grump master, let’s go find Jo” you laugh and swat his chest playfully. You head over to find where Jo got off to, quickly finding her in the pig pen, amongst the piglets. Bones walked in as you stood by the fence and watched.

“Now I know my daughter is in here somewhere, where could she be” Bones questioned as he picked up a piglet, making it snort softly “no, this isn’t her. Jo, where are you”

“I’m right here daddy” Jo replied under a pile of piglets.

“Which one of you said that” Bones asked, picking up yet another piglet as it nibbled his fingers.

“Me, daddy” Jo got up and walked up behind Bones and hugged his legs.

“There she is, my own little piglet” Bones replied turning around and went to lift Jo up in his arms, giving her a kiss before lifting her up on his shoulders, making Jo squeal. Bones walked them out of the pen and back over to you.

“I knew there was a sweet man underneath all that grump and sass” you joke as you pat Jo’s hand as she stretches it out to you.

“That’s reserved for you and Jo only, darlin” Bones leaned down and gave you a kiss on the cheek

“Your secrets safe with me” you reply as you give him a wink “I wouldn’t want to ruin your resident curmudgeon reputation”

“I’m beginning to rethink my “sweet persona” with you” Bones quipped back with a smile

“Whatever Dr. McCoy, you’re not fooling me, I’m too adorable. Now come on, I’m dying for a corndog” you say wistfully. 

“Those things are horrible for you, you know that right” Bones lectured. 

“I know! That’s why I’m getting two” you winked at him. 

“I want a funnel cake, daddy” Jo chimed in, patting the top of Bones head.

“Ohhh good choice Jo, that sounds good” you said dreamily

Bones just rolled his eyes at the two of you as you grabbed his hand and weaved your way through the crowd. 

\---------------

“So why won't you tell us where we're going Len” you question as you fiddle with the radio dials in the car. 

“Yeah daddy, we wanna know” Jo piped up from the backseat. 

“Because it's supposed to be a surprise” Bones asked exasperated “just sit back and enjoy the ride” 

You must have dozed off in your seat because you were jolted awake by you comm ringing. You dig it out of your pocket and check the screen, with Bones giving you the side eye. Not recognizing the number, you answered tentatively. 

“Hello? ...Oh, hey Paul! How are you?... I’m slowly on the mend. How is everything going? Uh huh… oh geez, that sounds like a ton of fun. Alright Paul, call me anytime…. Talk to you later” you hung up your comm and placed it back in your pocket. 

“Anytime huh” Bones said in a dreamy voice, picking at you

“Don’t sass me, McCoy” you say as you slap his leg lightly. Bones just gives you a smirk and continues to drive. 

“Alright you two, eyes closed” Bones ordered “no peeking and I mean it, especially you Jo” as Bones looked at her in the rearview mirror.

“Awww daddy” Jo protested

“I mean it Jo. You too Y/N” Bones ordered once more.

“Alright, alright, don’t get grumpy” you replied as you put your hands over your eyes. You heard the crunching of gravel as Bones pulled the car up somewhere and parked.

“Stay here” Bones said as he got out of the car and shut the door. You could hear him popping the trunk and messing around with something. He soon came over and got Jo out of her booster seat and then came to get you. 

“Alright, come on you two” Bones replied as he grabbed both of your hands and led you a ways from the car.

“Alright, here we are, you can open your eyes now.” Bones said as he let go of your hands. You slowly open your eyes and your mouth drops.

“Wow, this is gorgeous Len, where are we” you ask in awe.

“Yeah daddy, its pretty” Jo added in

“Gibbs Garden” Bones replied “I figured we could have a picnic here like I used to do as a kid” as he gave you a small smile “do you like it”

“I love it, this is great Len” you whispered as you walked over to him and gave him a big kiss. Bones’ small smile grew as he returned your kiss. 

The two of you quickly set up the blanket under a tree and Bones began to unpack the picnic basket and set out the chips and sandwiches on the blanket.

“These sandwiches are pretty good, who knew you were such a good cook” you said as you leaned against him, thoroughly enjoying the flowers and trees.

“I can make peanut butter and jelly like a pro” Bones said, mouth full.

“You’ve got a little bit of jelly right there…” you trail off as you kiss his lips softly, Bones chuckled against your lips. 

“Thanks darlin” as he gave you a wink, kissing you back and pulling you into his lap “suns fixing to set, I’ve got the perfect place to watch” as he kissed your neck lightly. 

You all get up and begin to pack away everything on the blanket. Bones takes the basic back to the car as you take Jo’s hand as she twirls around with your hand. Bones has a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes as he walks back to the two of you.

“Come on girls, this way” he said as he grabbed both of your hands, leading you across the grass to a small bridge, overlooking a small pond. You and Bones both lean on the railing, while Jo is bouncing up and down trying to see over it, you and Bones both laugh.

“You need a box there, Jo” you quipped, Jo just gave you a small huff of frustration “come here Jo” as you made to bend over to pick her up.

“I got her Y/N, you still shouldn’t be lifting anything for a while yet” Bones scolded as he lifted Jo easily and sat her on the railing between you two.

“Oh, Bones, I feel fine. I only have one more treatment to go, I’m not going to break” you replied, exasperated as Bones’ incessant mothering these past couple weeks.

“I don’t care darlin, doctors orders. Better safe than sorry. I’m always going to take care of you no matter what, you better get used to it” Bones responded while narrowing his eyes. You narrowed you eyes in return, signaling your displeasure, but relent. 

“Alright, alright whatever you say. Let's not ruin the moment by arguing” you reply as you wrapped your arm around Jo and she rested her head on top of yours, Bones just wraps his arm around the both of you, squeezing you tight.

You watch the remaining sun dance across the sky in brilliant shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. 

“That was gorgeous, Len. Thank you for bringing us here” you finally broke the silence as the last remaining wisps of color fade from the sky. 

“Anytime darlin” Bones replied, gently setting Jo down on the bridge once more. You move in to give Bones a hug and he wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head softly. 

“Oooo look daddy, fireflies” Jo squeals as she bounds off the bridge to chase them. You turn around in Bones arms and lean up against his chest in order to watch Jo. 

“Have you heard anything from Jocelyn lately” you ask quietly. 

“Not a peep” Bones replied with his chin on top of your head. 

“Good, let’s hope it stays that way” you said as you squeezed his arms around your waist. 

“Knowing Joc, it probably won't. She was never one to not have the last word in” Bones sighed

“Well this time you have me around. I’ll be damned if she thinks she’s going to take Jo away from you” you grumped. 

“I love you sweetheart” Bones mumbled in your hair as he gave you a soft kiss on the top of your head. 

“I love you too, Len. Now let's go catch some fireflies” you reply as you tug his arms gently. Bones just rolls his eyes like chasing fireflies was beneath him. 

“She's not going to be this young forever, Bones. And what were you saying in the beginning about making up for lost time? Heres your chance, now let’s go” you said tugging harder at his hand. 

“You're right darlin, you're always right” Bones agreed as the two of you made your way over to Jo and chased the fireflies into the beginnings of the night sky. 

\-------------

“Alright girls, it's time to go” Bones said out of breath from trying to keep up with the two of you. 

“Awww man” you and Jo replied simultaneously. Bones just picked up Jo, holding her tight while grabbing your hand

“We have to get you to Uncle Jim’s for your sleepover Jo” Bones said while walking back to the car and putting Jo back in her booster. 

“Yay” Jo exclaimed as Bones started the car and headed out of the park. 

\------

“Thanks for watching her, Jim” Bones said as he said down Jo and she bounded into the hotel room. 

“Don’t mention it, Bones. I had room service set us up a kickass pillow fort and everything. We're going to have a blast” Jim replies grinning at his pillow fort. 

“So who is exactly watching who tonight” you snort

“You're just jealous that you don't have a kickass pillow fort” Jim replied wrapping his arm around your neck and pulling you close in a hug

“Yeah, you're right, that fort does look pretty legit” you said looking at the fort in awe. 

“Come on uncle Jim, hurry up” Jo yelled impatiently. 

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Jim” Bones said as he wrapped his arm around your waist and led you back down the hall to the car. 

\-----------

You and Bones had come back to his mother’s house, which was thankfully empty. You were tired and ready to relax.

“You want something to drink, Len” you ask as you made your way to the kitchen to grab yourself a glass of tea and to put the picnic basket away.

“Sure darlin, I’m going upstairs to change” he replied as he walked down the hall. You poured the glasses of tea and began to make your way upstairs.

You slowly creak the door open to Bones’ room to bring him his tea, and you notice him in his arm chair, hand on his face with his eyes closed. You grin as you softly pad your way over and set the tea on the floor as you straddle his lap.

“Did today wear you out, old man” you joke as you kissed his forehead softly.

“Not sleeping, just resting my eyes” Bones replied not moving a muscle.

“It’s ok to admit it, I won’t make fun of you… much” you grin as you bent over to grab your tea, but you didn’t quite make it. Bones arms shot around your waist and began to tickle you mercilessly.

“Ahhhh! Len, stop it” you wheezed between laughs.

“Say Uncle” Bones replied.

“Uncle, Uncle, you win” you wheeze, as Bones finally relents his barrage of tickles, giving you a satisfied smirk.

“You’re an ass, Leonard McCoy” you say as you try to catch your breath, rubbing your ribs gently. 

“You love it, darlin” Bones said matter of fact, looking at you with a twinkle in his eye.

“You know I do” you reply softly, as you stared in his eyes.

Bones leaned in first and gave you a soft kiss, snaking his hand through your hair as his other hand rested on your hip with his thumb tracing small circles on your hip bone.

You moan softly as you slide your hand into his hair and grab a handful and tug softly, Bones just moaned on your lips. That’s when you heard your comm ring from your pocket. You groaned softly as you lowered your lips and took in a few breaths and began to get off his lap. Bones tightened his arms around your waist, refusing to let you go.

“It might be important” you tell him gently “I need to grab it”. Bones just grunts his disapproval and reluctantly lets you go.

You stand up and dig in your pocket and pull out your comm, and look to see who it was. You bite your lip and answer it.

“Hey! Paul! How are you” you began, you could practically hear Bones’ eyeroll as you padded out of the room “Oh, yeah? Hows that going? Therapy kicking your ass” you asked jokingly. 

You talked to Paul about his therapy session, and how he was feeling. After a few minutes you wished him well and told him to call you soon with updates. You closed your comm and put it back in your pocket and headed back to Bones’ bedroom. You open the door back and are greeted with a irritated looking Bones.

“Gee, do you think he calls you enough? That’s twice today” Bones points out and he crosses his arms loosely around his chest. You just grin at him walk over and retake your seat in his lap.

“Awwww is my grumpy bear all jealous” you teased “he’s all alone and has no one, except me to call a friend. It’s the least I can do after what he did for me and Jo, Bones, you know that”

Bones just huffs and wraps his arms around you pulling you close to his chest.

“Are you sitting on my lap” Bones questions, as you look at him slightly confused.

“Uhmm, yes” you confirm. Bones leans in close to your ear.

“Then I’m not jealous, darlin” he whispers as he starts nibbling on your earlobe. You just shudder in response, you could feel Bones chest rumble against you.

“Now where were we” he replies, voice husky, as he nibbled down your neck softly.

“I uh, we were” you squeaked out. Bones just chuckles and continues the assault on your neck. You close your eyes and moan, enjoyed his soft kisses and gentle nibbles. That is, until your comm rang again. Bones growled loudly, as you sighed heavily.

“I swear to god, if that’s Paul again, his recovery is going to be set back by a month” Bones threatens. You stand up and dig your comm out once more and glanced at it.

“It’s Jim” you replied as you went to answer “Yes, Jim” you question, letting the irritation seep through your voice. Jim being oblivious, didn't notice, and began to talk full speed.

“Uh huh…. Oh, really? … Yeah….Alright…. ok Jim...see you guys then” you replied quickly and hung up.

“What did he want” Bones asked, voice still husky.

“They decided to go to war with the Romulans” you replied quietly.

“Well I’m certainly not surprised, they need to be stopped” Bones stated

“They want us to lead it” you replied without looking at his face.

“Oh…” Bones replied softly, concerned “you going to be alright with that, darlin”

“Yeah, I guess, I just.. I never wanted to see that place again” you replied as you laid your head on his chest. Bones wrapped his strong arms around you and squeezed you tight.

“It won’t be like last time sweetheart, I’ll be with you this time” Bones smiled down at you “I won’t leave you”

“I know you won’t Len” you replied softly, as your lips found his once more. Bones immediately responded as he returned your kiss hungrily. Bones slipped a hand in your pocket and pulled out your comm, and without even looking, deftly switched it to “off”. 

He then wrapped his arms around you tightly and pulled you close to his chest, making it impossible for you to leave him again. You smirked against his lips as you deepened the kiss, running your finger lightly across his nipple through his shirt, eliciting a slight jerk and moan from Bones. You tug against his arms gently and he growls on your lips, refusing to let you go. 

“Come on Bones, let’s get more comfortable” you winked as you got up from his lap. You pulled Bones out of the chair and took him to the edge of the bed.

“Lose the shirt” you order, as you begin to pull it over it head, and fling it to the floor.

“Fair is fair sweetheart” he replies, pulling off your own shirt. You just grin up at Bones as you go to push him down on the bed and against the headboard, Bones dropped his head back with a grunt.

You crawled up the bed to him and raked your fingernails up his stomach up to his chest and circled around his nipple, slowly down his stomach, and began to kiss around his hips softly. You moved to kiss and nip right above the button to his pants, which made him strain his hips and groan.

“Darlin…” Bones drawled, voice husky, accent full force as he looked down at you with dilated eyes. 

You just looked into his eyes and smirked, thoroughly enjoying rendering the doctor speechless, as you bring your hand back down and place it over his hardening cock, feeling it kick and strain against his pants. 

Bones eyes bored into you, pleading. You take that as permission and began to slowly unbutton his pants. Bones groaned at his newfound freedom and leaned his head back against the frame as his cock finally sprung free from the confines of his pants. 

You chuckle softly as you take his length into your hands gently and give it a few pumps. Bones just closed his eyes and licked his lips, breathing shallow. You lean down to the base and slowly start planting kisses up the length of his shaft to the tip. 

Bones knocked his head against the headboard in frustration at your teasing, moaning loudly. He continued to keep his eyes shut as he began to pant.

You take his tip into your mouth and make your way down the length of his thick cock. Bones bucked his hips and strained against you. You take your hand and push down his hips roughly, asserting your dominance. You make your way slowly back up his shaft to the tip and swirl your tongue around the head. 

“Good god woman” Bones growls as ran a hand through your hair, tugging gently.

You once again begin to plant kisses along his hip bone, up to his stomach and up to his chest. You take one of his nipples into your mouth and lick and nip softly. Bones’ eyes roll into the back of his head and he takes in a sharp intake of breath. You can feel his cock kick against your hand in approval. 

You continued to kiss your way slowly up to his collarbone and up to his neck, nipping softly at the skin, till your lips eventually found his. You took his bottom lip between your teeth and nipped and tugged gently. 

“You have no idea what that does to me,sweetheart” Bones replied out of breath. 

“Oh? why don't you show me” you tease. 

“With pleasure” Bones replied with a smile. 

Bones quickly flipped the both of you over with him on top of you. His warm cock pressed firmly into your cool inner thigh. You shudder with longing and Bones just chuckles softly. He takes both of your hands into his and before you knew what he was doing, had your hands tied in your tshirt. 

“Behave” Bones said as he attached the shirt to the bed frame, leaving your arms and hands useless. 

Bones slowly made his way down your neck nibbling at your soft skin making his way to his shoulder and eventually your bra.

“Let's get this thing off” Bones whispered as he reached around you to take off your bra and toss it aside. Bones began to kiss each breast lightly. 

“You’re beautiful, darlin” he mumbled as he started kissing towards your nipple. You strain against the shirt but it doesn't give. You arch your back and lean in towards his kisses. 

“Len... please” you mewed, as you felt a tight coil in the base of your stomach. 

“All in good time, sweetheart” Bones replied as he began to dance his tongue around your nipple. You gasp and strain against your restraint even harder. 

“Uh-uh” Bones said as he roughly pushed your hands back down “do that and all of this stops, he said gruffly as he took your nipple in his mouth and began to swirl his tongue around it. 

You rolled your eyes in the back of your head and moaned loudly. 

“Len... don’t stop” you begged as you lifted your chest slightly in order to give him better access. 

Bones just nipped roughly one last time before he moved his head slowly down your stomach, placing soft kisses as he goes to the top of your hips. 

He places the top of your underwear in his teeth as he pulls them down slowly. You watch him as he looks into your eyes and takes his tongue and places it between your folds and slowly licks upwards. He stops at the hood of your clit, licking and swirling his tongue gently. You buck your hips and moan as his soft tongue graces the top of your clit, sending sparks shooting through your core. 

“Len” you gasp as he starts nibbling the inside of your thighs. “Len, please” 

You manage to finally get a hand free and you bring it down to the top of his head and take a handful of his hair and tug roughly. Bones grunts and grabs your hand and pushes it to the bed roughly and holds it there. 

“That's it, darlin. No more playing nice” Bones growled.

“This has been nice?!” you question, breathing out heavily. 

His only response was slipping his free hand down to your folds and parting them gently with his nimble finger. The cool air against your warm labia makes you shudder.

Bones starts to kiss and nip your hips as he slowly inserts a finger deep inside. You throw your head back and swallow a lump in your throat. 

“Oh god..” you barely croaked out, as your walls tightened against his finger. 

“Shit, sweetheart” Bones groaned feeling your tightness and warmth, his cock throbbed impatiently. 

Bones began to move his finger in position and started working on your g-spot while another worked on your clit. You began to writhe in every direction in frustration as your ever growing climax began to mount. Bones laid a heavy hand on your stomach. 

“I don't think so, darlin, you stay put. You come when I say so” Bones ordered. You hit your head a couple times against the headrest in frustration. This man was trying to kill you. 

He began to work his fingers quicker. You could only whimper in response as the coil in your stomach began to wind up even tighter. Bones began sensing your quickly arriving climax and picked up the pace. He placed his mouth back on your nipple and began to nip and suck once more.

“That’s it, come for me sweetheart” Bones mumbled as he gave your nipple one last rough nip. That's all it took to send you toppling over the edge, the coil in your gut releasing and sending a wave of ecstasy washing over you. You just laid there, unable to move, as the shudders wracked your frame. 

“You ok up there, sweetheart” Bones chuckled, as he released your other hand from your shirt. 

“I dunno, doctor, I may need mouth to mouth” you were barely able to squeak out. 

“Anything for a beautiful lady in distress” Bones replied as he crawled over the top of you, resting his arms on either side of your head. He smashed his lips onto yours, his need for his own release evident.

He worked his way down your jaw with little nibbles, moving to your neck, biting harder as he goes, breathing harshly against your skin. 

You can feel his cock dancing around your entrance, teasing your folds gently. Bones just looks down at you with those fully dilated, deep hazel eyes. He asks permission with his eyes and you just grab a handful of his hair and bring his lips back to yours as you grind against his tip. 

Bones groans loudly against your lips, as you wetten his tip between your folds. Not being able to stand it anymore, Bones reaches down and guides himself in slowly. His eyes roll in the back of his head as he bottoms out, feeling your walls wrap tightly around his throbbing cock. He lays his forehead against your shoulder, moaning. 

“Good god darlin” Bones breathes out huskily. You just wrap your legs around his hips as you take his length inside you, feeling your insides stretch to accommodate his length and girth. 

“Len..” you groan, pleading. Bones didn't need any more prompting as he began to slowly move in and out of you. You started to pant as you dug your fingernails in his back. He moved his hand to one of your nipples and started to tweak them gently as he snapped his hips into you. 

You bucked your hips wildly in rhythm with his, as your legs locked, forcing him in as deep as he could go. Bones bit your collarbone roughly and growled at the sensation. 

Bones moved his mouth to your other nipple, feeling his warm tongue dance around it. You once again yank his hair, as Bones releases your nipple and blows on it gently, making it stand on end. You just yank his hair harder and moan, and make your legs lock tighter. 

“Len.. please” you mewed “please”

Bones picked up the pace as you released his hips, finally being able to move his full length in and out of you. Bones slowly moved his hands back down to your clit and began to rub in rhythm with his thrusts. 

“Len.. close” was all you could moan as you felt the coil winding up once more. Bones bit roughly on your neck, your pleasure fueling his own need, and slowly moved up to your ear and nibbled softly. 

“Come for me again, darlin” his southern drawl mixed with the huskiness of his voice, was all it took to throw you back over the edge, feeling your climax rip through you once more. 

Bones felt your convulsions as your walls coaxed him into letting his own self go. He gave a few more snaps of his hips before he let go of his own hot release, moaning loudly as he slows his thrusts. 

Bones stays in you a while longer, relishing your warmth. He places his arms on either side of your head and leans in and gives you a soft kiss. 

“The things you do to me, darlin” he says as he looks into your eyes, voice still husky. You could only squeak in response. Bones just chuckled down at you. 

“The things I do to you apparently” his eyes twinkling with satisfaction. Bones pulls out of you slowly, grunting softly, already missing your warmth. He curls up next to you and brings you close to his chest. 

“I love you, sweetheart” he says quietly, as he closes his eyes, kissing the back of your shoulders softly. 

“I love you too, Len” you say as you finally find your voice. 

“I'm never letting you go again, Y/N” Bones said as he tightened his grip on you. 

“You’ll never have to” you reply as you turn over and bring his lips to yours “we have now and forever”

“I like the way you think, darlin” he mumbled against your lips. You just respond by biting and tugging his bottom lip softly. 

“You know what that does to me” Bones groaned as his eyes rolled in the back of his head. 

“I forget, show me again” you smirked at him playfully. 

“With pleasure” Bones replied as he once again took you into his arms and started kissing you all over once more.


End file.
